Jareth's Heir
by RestrictedAccess
Summary: An unexpected twist in life brings 23 year old Sarah and her little brother Toby back to the Labyrinth. Going home won't be so easy this time, especially since the Goblin King doesn't want at least one of them to leave.
1. Troubled Times

A/N: Dear Readers, (03-03-12)

Thank you for reading this fic. I started it years ago with every intention to finish it, but due to technical errors, I lost access to my third chapter and became disheartened with the story. Thanks to a generous SATA cable contribution from a friend, I managed to salvage today what I had intended to publish well over a year ago. Now I'm back at it. I went back over my original postings and tried to correct a few grammatical errors that bugged me. Hopefully it will improve the first chapter some.

I have a few bad habits in my writing I'm looking to correct, chief among them is my dialogue. I use too many dialogue tags and I'm looking for a way to cut down on them. If anyone can help me by either playing the part of beta reader or referring me to a good dialogue lesson, I'd be very appreciative.

If you find anything in my writing style that bothers you, please PLEASE inform me in a review. I'm looking to improve my writing and appreciate constructive criticism as much a compliments. If you know a way I can improve on a fault, I want to know how.

At any rate, please enjoy.

* * *

**Jareth's Heir**

_'The rain was pouring down hard outside, but Sarah thought nothing of it. She had just put her little brother off to bed. His birthday was tomorrow - not that he needed the extra energy. She wanted to make sure the house was covered in birthday decorations before he got up. Her parents wouldn't be around until later the next afternoon, since they were supposed to be on a business trip._

_She was balancing carefully on a dining room chair while trying to pin up a "Happy Birthday" banner, when the doorbell rang. Surprised, she accidently dropped both the banner and the tack she was using. She swore loudly and carefully looked around trying to find the tack. The doorbell rang again and she growled in frustration. She hopped off the chair and headed to the front door._

_'Who the hell goes ringing door bells at 11 at night?' she wondered angrily._

_She peeked into the peephole and felt her blood instantly run cold. Outside stood two wet __  
__policemen. She slowly opened the door and regarded the men._

_"Hello - can I help you?" she asked._

_" Yes ma'am - are you Miss Sarah Williams?" one of them asked._

_"Yes, I am. Is something wrong?" she asked, fearing the worst._

_"Well, we regret to inform you ma'am, that Irene and Robert Williams were in an accident on the border of town. They were on the interstate just outside of town, and collided with a druck driver turned against the flow of traffic. We think the were both coming up over a hill when it happened - none of them saw it coming. I'm sorry ma'am, but your parents didn't make it,"_

* * *

A loud crash and ear piercing scream could be heard throughout the house. Alarmed, the dark haired woman who had been day dreaming while hunched over an open card board box immediately stood upright and rushed to the source of the noise. She followed the screaming voice up a stairwell and down the hall to an extended ladder which led up into a dimly lit attic. She climbed frantically, slipping once and busting her lower lip against a rung of the ladder, before she made it into the musty and humid room.

Directly in front of her stood a young boy of 8 with a look of terror on his face. The crashing sound had been made by a mirror, which the boy evidently knocked over to get away from whatever it was that frightened him. She ran to the boy, leaping over small piles of  
boxes and old toys to do so.

"Toby, Toby - what's wrong?" she asked when she reached him. He pointed silently to a spot in front of him. Her gaze followed the direction he indicated, and her face wrinkled in disgust when she saw what the fuss was about. A few feet away in a small open box, there lay a half decomposed ferret wearing a blue harness. It's carcass was covered in what was unmistakably, even in the dim light of the room, maggots.

"Oh God, Toby, don't look at that!" she exclaimed, covering his eyes with one hand and using her other to steer him away from the sight and towards the attic opening. She helped him down the ladder and took him into the living room, where she sat him down on the sofa next to her. He buried his face in her plain white t-shirt and sobbed. She made soothing sounds while rubbing her hand gently in circles over his back to calm him down. When his crying finally ceased, he stood up and walked across the room to a large metal cage. He opened the door, reached in, and pulled out a sleepy looking ferret with a red harness. He cradled the animal silently for a moment, before finally speaking.

" We gotta bury him, Sarah. Frack wouldn't be happy if we didn't," he said, never taking his gaze off the animal.

"You're right. Frick deserves a good burial. Stay here with Frack while I go take care of his brother," she said, standing up and heading to the attic. Along the way she grabbed an empty shoebox and plastic bag from a hallway closet. She entered the attic slowly and approached the animal's dead body with much reservation. Trying not to look directly at it, she placed the bag over the animal. Through the bag she picked the animal up, and turned the bag inside out so that she neither had to see it nor touch it. She tied the bag off and placed it in the shoebox before heading to the backyard, where she dug a hole two feet wide and one foot deep. As she set the shoebox inside the hole, she heard footsteps behind her.

"You buried him next to Merlin", Toby stated.

"I know - this is a good spot for pets. There's a big tree to keep it shaded, and it's peaceful," she replied, covering the shoebox with dirt and placing a small granite stone at the top of it.

She looked at her little brother. In his arms he held the other ferret, Frack. She remembered when they had first gotten the two ferret brothers. It was a year ago, and her brother hadn't spoken a word since the accident. He had been to three different therapists, but none of them had made any head way. She was desperate for something to bring him out of his depression. He wasn't making friends, nor spending time with the ones he already had. He wouldn't speak to anyone, would hardly touch any food, and cried himself to sleep every other night. The only time he ever seemed to perk up is when they drove past the pet store.

So in a last ditch attempt to help him, she brought him to the pet store and told him to pick out whatever he wanted. Even if it were a huge bird eating tarantula, she'd let him have it, as long as it made him feel better. She had expected he would pick out a puppy, since they had lost Merlin a few years ago. However, she was surprised after he stopped in front of a large cage with two sleeping ferrets and picked one up. For the first time since their parents death, he actually smiled. Without hesitation she shelled out $500 dollars for both of the ferrets and the best ferret stuff she could find. Shortly thereafter, Toby began to make some progress. He started talking again within a matter of weeks - though mostly only to Sarah, and he began to slowly warm up to his old friends. The ferrets had brought some amount of happiness to her brother in the darkness of his depression, so she was not surprised at his reaction to the loss of one of them.

"Did you want to say a prayer?" she asked her brother. He shook his head.

"You do it - you say them better. But don't forget to mention what he likes, that way he won't get bored," he replied.

Sarah bowed her head and clasped her hands together. She wasn't an overly religious person, but she believed in a higher power, and in an afterlife. Occasionally prayers made her feel protected, like someone was watching over her and listening to her. She wondered if Toby ever felt the same way before she began her prayer.

"Dear Lord in Heaven,

As we commend our friend Frick to the earth, we ask that you please watch over him and give him safe passage into your Kingdom. His life was short, but in that short period of time the good things he did for us, and the happiness he gave to those around him will always be remembered. We also ask that you reward him for all his eartly deeds with plenty of rubber balls and lots of bananas – since he likes those. Please take care of our good friend, so that we may rest assured that he is receiving a hero's treatment in your care. In Jesus name we pray - Amen"

Sarah stood and looked at her brother. Toby had not yet raised his head, so she walked over to him and placed a kiss on the top of golden curls.

"Go inside and play with Frack, Toby," she told him. He silently obeyed.

When the door closed behind her brother, she sat down and sighed. The day had been a hard one. She'd recently found a new house in another part of the state, and had been packing all day in preparation for the move. It wasn't easy explaining to her brother that they were moving. This was their home, they had grown up here. Toby begged and pleaded to stay, and while Sarah wished she could just call it all off, things weren't that easy.

A few months after her parents death, she stumbled upon a hidden box of paperwork that belonged to her father. She figured it was from his job. He had been a very successful businessman with a lot of clients, so paperwork related to his job wasn't hard to find. She was surprised, however, to find that instead of job-related papers, this box was full of files, receipts, and IOU's signed by her father. All of them were made out to casinos and illegal gambling institutions in her state.

Not long after the discovery, she began receiving the calls. At first they were very businesslike. Men from "collection agencies" were calling for her father. Each would explain that her father owed substantial amounts of money. When she told them her parents were dead, they apologized and explained that, as the beneficiary of her parents money, it was now her job to pay the money back.

She didn't know better, so at first Sarah was understanding, and even willing to pay up. As time passed, however, the money began to run out, but the calls never stopped. Soon there was hardly a cent left, and the calls began taking a scary turn. They would call in the dead of night and threaten to hurt her or Toby. They would become obscene and give detailed examples of what they would do to her. Afraid for Toby's life and her own, she called the police, who did little more than tap her phones and tell her to wait it out. So she did the only thing she could think of - she planned to get them out of there.

A clap of thunder exploded above her, and rain began to fall. She stood up and brushed the grass off of her backside before jogging into the safety of the warm, dry house. As she entered the living room, she saw the curly blond head of her little brother peaking up over the back of the couch. She walked over to the couch and peered over her brother's head to see what he was up to. In his lap lay a sleeping Frack, occasionally twisting and turning to get into a more comfortable position on the 8 year olds legs. In his hands he held a frayed and somewhat burned red book with stained pages.

"What are you reading, Toby?" Sarah inquired.

"A book I found," he said. "It's called the Labeerinth," he said, slowly pronouncing the word. At Sarah's quizzical look, he showed her the cover and repeated himself, "See, it says 'The Labeerinth."

Sarah's eyes widened in surprise. Where had he gotten that book? She'd hidden it away years ago, and even she hadn't remembered where she put it.

"Toby, where did you get that book?" she asked.

" I found it in my toy box a while back. I don't know how it got there - I thought maybe you gave it to me as a present. It's really good. This is my gazillionth time reading it," he said animatedly. "It always makes me feel sort of happy when I read it, you know. I used to read it to Frick and Frack before we went to bed. I figured it would cheer Frack and me up to read it for old time's sake," he added.

"Toby, do you mind if I took a look at that for a while?" she asked, holding her hand out to accept the book.

"But I haven't finished it," he protested.

"Please Toby, I'll only keep it for a little while," she said, her hand still held out expectantly.

Toby rolled his eyes and earmarked the page he was on. "Alright, but don't lose my spot. I'm at the part where the princess gets to the Goblin King," he told her. She took the book from him, thanked him, and turned to head up to her room. Before she reached the stairs, he stopped her.

"Hey Sarah, what's for dinner? I'm hungry," he whined.

"Whatever you want to eat, Toby. There's plenty of milk and cereal."

Toby cheered and ran into the kitchen as Sarah made her way up the stairs. She lied down on her bed, opened the book, and began to read. She read the book from cover to cover, stopping only once to tuck Toby into bed. By the time she had finished the book, it was already 12 A.M.

'You have no power over me,' she recited internally as she set the book on her bedside table and walked over to her vanity. She sat down and stared quietly into the mirror. After a moment she raised her hand and gently placed her fingertips against the glass.

"Hoggle," she whispered. She knew he wouldn't come. They had stopped coming at her call years ago. For over two years after her adventures in the Labyrinth, she would often call to them in times of emotional need, and they never wasted a second in appearing. It had all ended just before Toby's third birthday. She had come home depressed and angry after the captain of the cheerleading squad at her high school had set her book bag on fire and called her a 'freak' for reading so many fairy tales. Sarah had just barely managed to rescue the only book she really cared about - 'The Labyrinth' - before the entire bag was consumed in flames. She called for Hoggle, and when she wasn't answered, she called for the rest of her friends. Her attempts were in vain, however, because none of friends ever answered her call. Feeling abandoned by what she believed had been her truest friends, she tucked away 'The Labyrinth' in a place where no one could find it, and then forgot about it.

'But Toby said he found it in his toybox. I know I didn't put it there. He's the last person I'd ever want to find it,' she wondered. 'Toby doesn't lie, so how did the book get there? Maybe Irene or Dad found it and put it there?' Her thoughts were interrupted by the faint sound of glass breaking downstairs. Frightened, she quickly shut off the dim lamp that lit her room and quietly opened her door. The entire house was dark, both upstairs and downstairs, but the moon was bright enough to give her some guiding light. As she crept closer to the stairs, she could see the moonlit silhouettes of two people - one of which had their hand through the window and was feeling around on the back of the door. 'Oh my God, someone's breaking into the house!' she thought frantically. She quickly returned to her room and ran to the phone.

She picked up the reciever and reached out to dial 9-1-1, but her hand didn't make it to the buttons before she had realized there was no dial tone. She got down on her hands and knees and felt around along the wall. 'It's plugged in,' she confirmed as she felt where the phone jack met with the plug. 'That could only mean one thing,' she added, a feeling of dread creeping up on her.

They had cut the phone line. You're average robber doesn't cut the phone line when they rob your house. No, something much worse was going on, Sarah feared. She'd bet every cent she had that it was one of those people who had been threatening to hurt them if she didn't pay her father's debts.

She berated herself for never getting a cell phone before throwing the phone on to the bed and creeping into her brother's room. As she slipped inside, she caught a glimpse of the intruders. They had just opened the front door and were stepping inside.

She closed the door and locked it behind her. She approached Toby's bed as quietly as possible, and gently shook her brother awake.

"Sarah...wha," he began groggily before she covered his mouth to quiet him.

"Toby," she whispered, "I need you to stay quiet, and stay calm. There are robbers in the house," she lied. She didn't feel like telling him now that the intruders might be people that have been threatening their lives for a while, coming to make good on their threat. She picked him up and took him to his bedroom closet it. After opening it up she set him down inside.

"I want you to stay quiet and hide in here," she instructed.

"Sarah, what about you?" he asked while reaching down and picking up Frack, who had been sleeping when Sarah came in, but followed them over to the closet to see what all the fuss was about.

"I'm going to go call the police. I'm going to leave you in here with the door shut. If you hear someone coming, I want you to cover yourself with clothes and toys so they can't see you if they open the door. Whatever you do - don't let anyone see or hear you, understand," she instructed.

He nodded and grabbed a t-ball bat from the back of his closet. "Just in case..." he said as he handed it to her.

"Good idea. I'm shutting the door now. Remember - cover yourself if you hear someone coming, and no matter what you do, don't come out of this closet. Not even if it sounds like I might be in trouble. Promise me, Toby," she all but pleaded.

Toby nodded. "I promise."

Sarah shut the closet door without a word and silently slipped out of the room - relocking the door behind her so no one could just walk in there. She hated to lie to her brother. She knew she couldn't call for help, but she wasn't just going to hide and risk letting them find her and Toby. They were already in the house, so escape for both of them wasn't much of an option, either. If they both got caught, well that was the end of it. No, she would sneak over to her neighbors and use their phone. They always kept a key under their mat, so she wouldn't have to bother waking them up and waiting for them to come to the door.

She tip toed down the stairs, keeping her eyes open for any sign of movement. The sound of a door closing in the far left side of the downstairs area indicated to her that they were in the master bedroom. 'The tv and all the really valuable stuff is still in here,' she thought as she quietly made her way through the dark living room towards the front door. 'That means they definitely aren't robbers. No robber passes up a $2,000 t.v.'

Halfway to her destination, she stopped dead in her tracks. Footsteps were coming up the hall from the master bedroom. They were walking right towards her. There was no way she could open up the front door and sneak out without them hearing. Thinking quickly, she ducked behind a large rubber plant close to the front door and hid among the shadows - bat held at the ready if they came too close.

"God Damn, Lou, I told you we shoulda' checked upstairs first," one of them said as they entered the living room.

"Sshh, you dumb ass, you'll wake 'em up. We got lucky that stupid trick you pulled breaking through the glass didn't wake at least one of them up," the other replied.

"Hey, you were supposed to be the lock picker. I can't help it if you forgot to bring your tools," the first one shot back. Sarah pressed herself up tightly against the wall as they got closer, hoping against all hope as she did so that they wouldn't notice her. She moved her foot away from a beam of moonlight that fell uncomfortably close to her. Unfortunately as she did so, the floor creaked loudly.

"Hey, what was that?" one of the men inquired, turning his flashlight in her direction. The light fell on the plant for a split second before moving on to a spot a little more towards the left - close to the stairs. The man with the light slowly approached the stairs, carefully looking around to make sure he wasn't missing anything. The other man followed him, but stopped before he got as far as his friend and turned his attention towards the rubber plant Sarah was hiding behind. She saw him reach into his jacket, and while she couldn't see clearly what he was pulling out, she could tell automatically by the mechanical clicking sound that came from it, just what it was.

'Great, he has a gun, I have a bat. I'm not going to survive this,' she thought, clenching her teeth together in both fear and frustration. The man slowly approached the plant, and his free hand moved out to check for anything that might be hiding behind the plant. Sarah, figuring she was damned if she did do something, and damned if she didn't, reacted with the first action that came to mind. She jumped up and started swinging away.

The first swing landed hard against the forearm the man was using to hold the gun. The unmistakable 'crack' of a shattering bone could be heard, and the man screamed and pain - dropping the gun and grabbing his broken arm with his free hand. The second swing caught the man in the thigh, close to the back of his knee. His leg collapsed, and he fell to his knees. The next swing caught the man on his shoulder, which knocked him over onto his side. Her final swing would've landed on his head, had it not been for the click of a gun hammer and an authoritative shout from the other man.

"Drop the damn bat, bitch, or I'll put a hole in your head here and now," he threatened. Sarah froze, the bat still hanging in mid-air above the groaning man. A bat was no match for a bullet, no matter how good of a batter you are. If she dropped the bat, he'd probably shoot her, but if she didn't, he'd definitely shoot her. He was too far away to hit. She lowered the bat a little, her logical side telling her to put it down, while the rest of her screamed to fight. The rest of her won out. As the man stepped closer, fully expecting her to set the bat down, she flung the bat at him. The man ducked to avoid it, but Sarah heard more than saw it hit him. Where it hit him, she wasn't sure, because the moment she let go of the bat, she opened the front door and dashed outside.

She ran for the closest house to her, but slipped on the wet grass and fell to the ground. She scrambled up, and made another break for it. In the corner of her eye she could see the man running after her already. "Help, somebody HELP!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, as he neared her. If help ever came, Sarah would never know. As she neared the edge of the lawn, she felt something hard hit her in the back of the head. He had pistol whipped her. The world exploded into a vast expanse of white nothingness for a moment, before finally fading into darkness. She fell to the ground unconscious. She did not feel him drag her across the yard by the feet, nor did it register when he dropped her carelessly on the ground next to his partner, and began to walk up the stairs.

Toby heard the footsteps, though. Toby had heard everything. Crouching quietly in the closet, he heard the men tell Sarah to drop the bat. He heard the sound of metal making contact against flesh, and he heard the man scream in pain. He had heard Sarah screaming for help, and even rose up and tried to come to her aid. When reached the door and tried to open it, he noticed it was locked. There was no way out. He couldn't help his tears streaming down his face he ran to his bedroom window and peered outside. In the light of the moon, he could see the figure of a man dragging his sister across the yard. 'I've got to go get help,' he thought, crossing the room to get Frack. He picked up his furry little friend and placed him in an empty book bag that was laying on top of the pile of junk in his closet. After slinging the backpack over his shoulder, he went over to the window and opened it up. He only had one leg out of the window when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Knowing he didn't have enough time to get down without being seen, he panicked and shot into the closet. He closed the door behind him as quietly as possible, before sitting down and covering himself with a pile of dirty clothes, books, and toys.

The footsteps stopped in front of his bedroom door. He heard the doorknob turn, then he heard it rattle. The door lock was an old fashioned key lock. When the door was locked, you couldn't get in or out without the key. The man grumbled something on the other side of the door. For a moment thought he would actually be safe, until he heard the man throwing himself against the door. He was trying to break in.

Toby took Frack out of the bag, hugged him against his chest, and closed his eyes. He wished this wasn't happening. He would have given anything to be someplace else right now, where he and Sarah could be safe. How great would life be if everything was just like a fairy tale. No bad guys that would hurt you and your family, no pets that would die, no tragic accidents that would kill your parents and leave you and your sister orpahns. No, he would have prefered a world with happy endings among fairies, princesses, goblins, and goblin kings.

He sobbed and gently squeezed Frack. "Oh Frack...I really wish the goblins would come and take me and Sarah away right now."

The door crashed open, and the man walked inside. The bed was empty, but the sheets were in disarray and half pulled off the bed, as if someone had gotten out of the bed in a rush. He bent down and checked under the bed. Nothing. When he stood up, he noticed the closet across the room. Smiling to himself, the man walked over and opened the closet. It looked empty, save for a pile of clothes and toys on the floor.

"You can't hide from me, kid," he growled as he began to pull apart the pile. A minute later, he stood up and cursed. He had found absolutely nothing.

* * *

Author Note: Please review. Constructive criticism is welcome.


	2. Through the Labyrinth Again

Disclaimer: The Labyrinth is the intellectual property of Jim Henson and Dennis Lee. The characters and original story are not the property of the fan fiction author, and the author will not be recieving payments of any sort for this work.

* * *

The moment Toby uttered his wish, he felt a a number of hands grab hold of him and pull at him. Before he could began to fight back, he felt a rush of air around him, and noticed that he could no longer feel the ground below him, or the toys and dirty clothes on top of him. Everything was dark and silent as if he were in a vacuum - he couldn't even hear the air rushing past him

Then, as quickly as it had all began, it stopped. He could feel the ground below him again. He looked around to get a bearing on his surroundings. At first everything was a little blurry. The light, while somewhat bright, was not really day light. It was like light on a cloudy day. As his sight began to clear up, he noticed he was in a very different place. The land around him looked dead and dry. Leafless trees and sparse golden grass were scattered about the landscape. Far in the distance looked like a big stone castle, and surrounding it appeared to be a big stone maze.

Toby heard a groan behind him, and spun around to see who had made the noise.

"Sarah!" he cried out. Behind him, sprawled out on the ground and surrounded by a bunch of squat creatures that looked like the goblins from his favorite book, lay Sarah. Her clothes were dirty and torn, her lower lip was swollen, and her face was both bruised and incredibly pale. He ran to her, pushing the creatures aside roughly in order to get as close as possible. He shook her gently and called her name.

"She ain't doin' so well, that one," said one of the goblins.

"Aye, she's gotta mighty nasty bump on the back of 'er 'ead," chimed another.

Toby carefully rolled her onto her side and inspected her head. Sure enough, the back of her head was wet and sticky with blood. Toby sobbed and shook Sarah again.

"Wake up, Sarah...please," he cried. When she gave no response, he looked at the creatures around him.

"Can't someone please help her?" he pleaded with them.

"Hey kid, we ain't angels. We're just goblins," one of them replied.

"Yeah," laughed another, "We did whatcha asked us to do. You're on your own now, kid."

The goblins around him laughed and nodded in agreement, before turning around and walking away from them. Toby called after them, pleading for help. When all they did was laugh, he cursed. He picked up rocks and clumps of dirt and threw them at the goblins, who did little more than laugh and dodge the projectiles.

"Stupid, stupid idiots," he growled, before slumping down next to Sarah. The bag that he had been holding onto earlier started moving around. 'I forgot about Frack. I must have dropped him when I tried to wake up Sarah,' he thought, reaching over and pulling his furry friend out.

"Well this sucks," he said to Frack, as he looked around. It seemed odd to him that he wasn't more afraid to be where he was. He knew where he was, for sure. He knew instantly when he saw the castle and labyrinth that he was in the world he had read about so often. 'I guess wishes do come true' he inwardly sighed, remembering what he had said in those last few moments of terror in his bedroom closet. 'I just wish I had wished that sooner,' he mentally berated as he looked at his sister.

Another groan came from his sister, and he moved onto his knees and hunched over her. "Sarah," he whispered, gently shaking her, "wake up." She groaned again, but this time her eyes slowly opened.

When Sarah's eyes opened, she was confused. The last thing she remembered was running across the lawn to her neighbors and screaming for help. She moved a hand to the back of her head where she could feel a throbbing pain. Her hair was coated with something warm and wet. She inspected her hand, not at all surprised to see the blood on her fingers.

She looked at her little brother, who was hunched over her with a worried look on his face. Behind him, she noticed dead trees and a clouded sky. 'Where are we?' she thought, slowly sitting up. Her brother put his arms around her and helped her into a sitting position. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her head, she looked around. Dead trees and grass everywhere. Boulders were scattered over the land scape. In the distance she could see...

"Oh God no!" she exclaimed, seeing the all too familiar castle and Labyrinth. "Toby how'd we get here?" she asked him.

"I guess I wished us here," he said, puzzled by what she asked. He'd have expected her to ask where she was. It almost sounded as if she knew this place existed all along.

"What? No, Toby - I knew I should've burned that book...ow," she groaned. Her anger and surprise was irritating the wound on her head, and causing her a worsening headache. She slowly stood up, but was hit with a sudden feeling of nausea. She bent over and placed her hands on her knees and waited for the feeling to pass.

"Sarah, are you okay?" Toby asked.

"I'm fine, Toby," she assured him. When the nausea passed, she stood up and gazed at the castle. 'This has got to be some dream induced by the bump on my head,' she though. She brought her hand up to her face and pinched her cheek hard. 'No, definitely not a dream,' she thought as her eyes watered in pain.

"Toby, who brought us here?" Sarah inquired, curious to know if a certain blond haired trickster had anything to do with this.

"Goblins," Toby all but spat. "They grabbed me right after I wished you and I would get taken away. Stupid little jerks wouldn't help wake you up, though. They just laughed."

"You didn't see anyone else?" she asked.

"Nuh-uh," Toby answered, shaking his head.

Sarah crossed her arms and glared at the castle. She did not want to be here, but she had no idea how to get back...at least, not without going to visit the owner of the castle, anyway.

"Sarah, aren't you surprised to be here?" asked Toby. Sarah looked at her brother quizzically, so he continued. "I mean, we're in the Goblin King's world, aren't we? It's the place from the Labyrinth. Aren't you even a little freaked out that we're in a make believe place?"

Sarah stared blankly at her brother for a moment. No, she wasn't freaked to be there. Surprised that she had ended up there again after so many years of cut off contact with the creatures of this world, yes. But freaked that she was in a world that was supposed to be make-believe? Recalling the events that occurred 8 years ago, when she had only 11 hours to go through the humongous Labyrinth to find her infant brother, she shook her head.

" I was here once, a long time ago," she muttered, purposely leaving out any mention that Toby had been here as well.

Toby's eyes widened in surprise, and he all but squealed, "Really? When? How did you get here? Did you wish yourself away too?"

"I don't remember," Sarah lied with a shrug. Her brother's shoulders slumped in disappointment.

After a moment of silence between them, Sarah sighed and regarded her brother. "Well, we can't just stay here," she told him. "We're going to have to get help if we want to go home," she added.

"You want to go home? Back to where the robbers were? Why can't we stay here and live with the goblins and stuff. It's not like there's anyone to go home to anymore," he whined.

Sarah shook her head. Sticking a finger into a tear on one of her sleeves, she pulled hard until that half of the sleeve had ripped off. Folding the piece of clothe neatly, she firmly pressed it against the wound on her head to stop any remaining blood loss. "Toby, we can't stay here. We belong with humans, not goblins " she said, waving her free hand in the direction of the castle.

"The Goblin King looks human enough," Toby shot back.

"He's not human. We're not staying with him, either," she said. After a moments pause, she added, "but...I guess it's not like we can avoid him right now."

"What do you mean?" Toby inquired.

"I mean that there only one person that I know of here who has the ability to send us back home," she answered.

"Well, what about the Goblins? They brought us here."

"I don't know if Goblins can do that, Toby. Besides, do you really think you could talk a Goblin, the creature that wouldn't even help you earlier, into spending some of his time sending us back home?"

Toby had to admit, she had a point. He had only seen Goblins once for a few minutes, and he could already tell that they weren't the most helpful creatures. He still couldn't understand why Sarah would want to go home, though. They didn't have any parents to go home to. What's more, Toby may have been young and naive, but he wasn't stupid. Sarah had become increasingly more worried over the past few months, like she knew something bad was going to happen. When she announced to him a few weeks ago that they were moving, she seemed almost relieved at the prospect of living somewhere else. He knew something was up, and it had to do with the weird phone calls she was getting. He would have thought after that break in Sarah wouldn't want to go back anymore, but obviously Sarah preferred living in a place she wasn't happy to living in a fairy tale world.

'Maybe she just needs to be here longer,' Toby thought, scheming as to how he could get his sister to want to stay.

"Okay," he conceded. "So, how are we going to get to the Goblin King? Do we have to go through the maze?" he asked.

"Unless we can sprout wings and fly there, yeah, we'll have to go through the Labyrinth," she said.

Toby walked back over to where he left his bag, and picked it up. Gently placing Frack in the bag, and zipping it up enough to keep him in without cutting off his air supply, Toby strapped the back pack to his back and faced his sister.

"I guess we should go, then," he stated.

"What's your hurry?" Sarah teased him, even though she had already began to start walking. Toby followed her, asking questions about Sarah's experience in this world. Sarah answered all his questions as carefully as possible, making sure not to hint at why she had to come there in the first place. The question and answer session continued for almost an hour until they finally reached the outer wall of the Labyrinth. By this time, Sarah's wound had finally stopped bleeding, so she folded the cloth in half and carefully tucked it in her pocket in case she'd need it for future use.

"So...uh...is there a door or something?" Toby asked, looking up and down the length of the wall, but seeing nothing that looked like a door or opening.

"Yeah...somewhere," Sarah said, remembering how she got in last time. This time, however, there was no squat little man who was exterminating fairies that she could ask for assistance. She walked up and down the wall, carefully examining it for cracks. 'I hope that wasn't the only door to get in. If so, it'll take forever to find our way in,' Sarah thought. Toby stood by quietly and let his sister inspect the wall. Since she had been here before, he figured she knew was she was doing.

After 15 minutes of close inspection, Sarah finally stood back and sighed in exasperation. "How do we get into the Labyrinth?" she growled in frustration. Toby rolled his eyes. 'I guess she doesn't know,' he thought.

The loud sound of moving rocks caught their attention. They looked to their left and saw two large stone doors opening 20 feet away from them.'Seriously? All this time a simple question opened those doors?' Sarah wondered, as she walked over to the opened doors with Toby in tow. When she reached the doors she peered inside, looking both to her left and to her right before finally stepping inside. When the doors closed behind them, Sarah looked at her brother.

"Alright, your choice: left or right?" she asked.

"You mean, you don't know the way?" Toby inquired, his eyes wide in surprise.

Sarah smiled and shook her head. "Not a clue," she answered.

"Okay...left then," Toby said. 'This is going to be interesting,' he thought.

Sarah turned left and began walking down the passage. All the while she dragged her hand across the wall as she went. "Toby, I want you to do the same thing I'm doing on that wall," she said, pointing to the wall on her right. "We're looking for a hidden hole or entrance or something," she added. Toby obeyed, trailing slightly behind his sister. They had only been walking for a minute when Toby felt his finger hit air, rather than stone. Puzzled, he stopped and looked to his right. It certainly looked like the stone wall. He extended his arm and waved it around. There was still no stone.

"Hey Sarah," he began, trying to get her attention. Sarah looked over at her little brother and smiled when she saw him waving his arm in thin air.

"Great Toby, you found one," she said, walking through the division in the wall and taking a right. Toby followed, a little confused at what happened.

"So is everything door hidden or something?" he asked.

"I wouldn't say hidden. More like camouflaged," she told him, taking a left turn into what had looked like just another bare stone wall.'Weird,' he thought.

They continued on for an hour taking turns choosing the direction they went in each time they came to an opening in a wall. On their last turn, Sarah chose to go right and they found themselves in a big garden with tall dead plants. They walked through the garden and came to an abrupt halt on the other side. Just before they had reached the exit, a large Sphinx with gold colored almond shaped eyes and head of messy golden hair had come from behind the wall and blocked their path.

"Hello, Children," purred the creature is a very wistful and mystical voice. Toby looked up at his sister, and then looked back. His jaw dropped. The garden was gone, replaced by a bare stone wall. He tugged at his sisters sleeve and indicated to her the cause of his confusion. She shrugged and stated, "That's so typical. The one thing I hate most about this place is that everything changes."

"Yes, indeed it does. Despite it's weakened state, the Labyrinth is still quite alive," the Sphinx purred again.

"Weakened state?" Sarah repeated.

"You will see," the Sphinx told her. "Now children, if you wish to continue, you must answer a riddle, and answer well, for if you do not answer correctly..." the sphinx paused and let out a guttural chuckle before licking her lips, "I shall have to gobble you down as my lunch."

"You're going to eat us?" Sarah stammered.

"Only if you answer incorrectly," the Sphinx answered.

"How many chances do we get?" Sarah inquired.

"Only one," the Sphinx smiled.

Sarah swallowed roughly and looked at her little brother. If it were just her, she'd take a crack at it...but since Toby was involved.

"It's okay, Sarah," Toby told her, seeing her discomfort. "I'm really good at riddles, let me do it," he told her, stepping up to the sphinx bravely.

"I don't know, Toby. We only get one chance."

"Trust me, I'm really good at this," Toby persuaded. Before Sarah could say anything, he looked at the Sphinx and said, "Okay, what's the riddle."

"Such a brave boy. Here is your riddle : I can run but can not walk. I have a mouth but can not talk. I have a bed but do not sleep. What am I?"

Sarah stood quietly and watched her little brother think it out. She was no good with riddles, admittedly. Anytime she tried to do one, she always had to concede. It's not so much that she wasn't capable of logic, she just didn't have the patience for puzzles. Toby, on the other hand, loved puzzles. He was the kid who could solve a rubix cube within an hour. When their father would come home from business trips he would bring with him a new puzzle, or a new book of riddles to solve. He delighted in these things. She watched Toby's eyes shift around. His lips were moving silently as he worked out the answer to the puzzle.

'Okay, what runs without walking? Well...water runs. Water doesn't have a mouth, though. What has a mouth but doesn't talk. An animal...but they can walk, and they don't have beds. Oh wait...'the river runs south', the 'mouth of the river', and a 'river bed'. It's so obvious, why didn't I think of it before?'

"I know the answer!" Toby exclaimed. "What runs without walking, has a mouth but doesn't talk, and has a bed but doesn't sleep...it's a river."

The sphinx smiled a toothy grin and bowed her head. "You're correct, little boy. You both may pass," she told them, stepping aside to let them through. Sarah and Toby thanked the sphinx as they passed.

"You did great, Toby. I'm impressed," Sarah told him.

"It was nothing," he said humbly, as they made their way down the new passage way.

The passage they were in continued on uninterrupted for what seemed like miles, until they finally came to an opening at the very end of it. "You're kidding," Sarah said, as they passed through the entrance the opening. Ahead of them, to their left, and to their right stood 3 large stone walls will no exits. "We came all this way for nothing," Sarah growled, throwing her hands up in the air in her frustration. Toby stuck his hands in his pockets and kicked the dirt on the ground. They had to turn back and find a new way.

He turned around to go back the way they came, and unexpectedly ran into a wall. He fell backwards onto his butt and grabbed his nose in pain. "Ow," he said. Sarah crouched down to inspect the damage, but Toby shook his head. "I'm fine...but the exit's gone," he told her, pointing out the now solid stone wall behind them.

"What the..." Sarah began, feeling along the wall where the opening once was. "Oh come on, this isn't fair," she grumbled.

Toby stood up and looked around. Maybe there was an opening on another wall. He walked over to the wall across from Sarah and began feeling the stone. Somewhere there had to be some sort of trap door or something. They couldn 't be trapped in here - they just couldn't.

Toby had inspected the entire wall and moved on to the next one. Half way down, as he was feeling along the wall, he heard a click below him and he looked down. Beneath his right foot, a stone that he had stepped on had sunk a little. 'That's weird,' he thought, as it clicked once more. He moved his foot, and the stone began to rise. "Hey Sarah, come look at..." he began, but couldn't finish. The moment the stone had become level with the rest of the ground the stones beneath him fell away, and he fell with them. He screamed as he felt into the hole, and kept screaming all the way down.

Sarah had been looking for another exit when she heard her brother say something. She turned around just in time to see her brother falling into a hole beneath. "Toby!" she screamed, running to the edge of the hole. She could hear his screams, and panicking, she ignored her better judgment and let her instincts take over. She jumped into the hole and followed her brother.

She found herself in free fall for 10 seconds before her backside met with a soft surface. She bounced off of it immediately and found herself landing on what she figured was a stone slide. Too dark to tell where she was, she let the slide lead her where it may. "Toby!" she cried, no longer able to hear his screams. "Toby, answer me!" she called again. The slide began to make a number of spiraling turns. Sarah had begun to get nauseas when the slide finally straightened out. Below her she could see a faint light. It was the exit. As the light grew bright, a strong and offensive odor met her nose. She covered her mouth and groaned - she knew where this slide was headed. 'Please don't let it drop me in the bog,' she silently prayed.

Toby had landed roughly on his butt. He stood up slowly and rubbed his backside. He surveyed his surroundings, and held back his gag reflex that had been triggered by a strong stench. He hand landed on a patch of dirt right next to the water side of a green stinky body of water. The smell was overwhelmingly strong, made worse by small geysers which expelled small amounts of thick green water and disgusting gas with flatulent sounds.

"Sarah!" he called. He looked around. spotting the hole in the mountainside that he had fallen out of. He heard Sarah's voice coming from it, and it was getting louder and louder. He moved away, knowing that she had come down after him. A minute later, Sarah came tumbling down and landed, like him, on her backside.

"Toby, are you okay," she cried when she spotted him. She stood up and embraced him.

"I'm fine Sarah," he told her, trying to push her off. She caught the hint and let him go.

"Well," she sighed, "at least we didn't land IN the bog."

"What is this place?" Toby asked, pinching his nose.

"The Bog of Eternal Stench. Hope you never, ever fall in, or you'll remain stinky for the rest of your life," she told him.

"Oh," he said, inching away from the waterside. "So how do we get out of here?"

Sarah looked around, until she caught sight of a familiar broken bridge. She pointed to it, and said, "We have to cross there."

Toby looked towards where she was pointing, He noticed to get there, they'd have to hop, skip, and jump from land patch to land patch. "Great," he said sardonically.

"It's better than just sitting around here letting our nose hairs get singed by the smell," she told him, jumping to the next land patch. Toby followed her, stopping only to calm the squirming creature in his backpack. "We'll get out of here soon, Frack, don't worry," he told the ferret.

Once they had made it to the large patch of land with the bridge attached to it, Sarah had looked around. 'I wonder if Sir Diddymus is still here?' she wondered. She walked over to the small waist high little cave and peered inside. A large shaggy white dog slept, unaware of her intrusion.

Toby walked up to the bridge and looked at it. It was broken, and the gap between both sides was pretty wide. The bog, however, was extremely shallow here, and there was a path of stones peeking up out of the water which led from one side to the other. Not sure what Sarah was waiting for, he stepped on the first stone, and cringed when the act caused a wave of strong gas to waft up from underneath it. The rock seemed sturdy enough, though, so he took a step towards the other rock.

"Stop!" came a cry from the other side of the bridge. A small fox-like creature with an eye patch jumped from the other half of the bridge and landed on a stone a few feet in front of him.

"I can not allow you to pass this way, young Knave," the creature said, brandishing a weapon at Toby. Toby jumped back onto the bank and stared in shock at the creature that had just threatened him. The creature advanced a few stones, but stopped in his tracks when Sarah's voice rang out.

"Sir Diddymus!" Sarah cried in delight when she saw her old friend.

The creatures mouth opened when his eyes fell on Sarah. "Milady?" he whispered. Rushing passed Toby and up to Sarah, he asked, "Milady, what brings you here?"

"Well, it's a long story," she said.

" And one I would very much like to hear," laughed Sir Diddymus.

"Okay, but I'd rather not be here in the bog for too much longer. My I and my brother pass?" she inquired.

"You're brother? You mean, this young boy is Sir Toby?" he asked, looking Toby up and down.

"Yes," Sarah nodded.

"My, how he has grown. Yes, yes, let's get you both past this place. I know how detestable you find it," he said absent mindedly.

"Ambrosius!" he called. Immediately, the large sleeping white dog arose and came to him. He climbed up into the small saddle on the dogs back and pointed to the bank across from them. "Very well then, let us advance," he told them, leading them across the bog. Sarah let Toby go ahead of her - smiling at the very confused look on his face. When they reached the other side, Sarah launched into her story of how they got there. She told Sir Diddymus about the passing of her parents, they break in to the house, and all the events up to when they met. She also explained to Toby, who by that time was so confused he could do nothing but listen in silence, how exactly she knew Sir Diddymus, as well as her other friends from the Labyrinth. This of course, included a detailed recount of what happened 8 years ago- minus the reason she had to be there in the first place. By the time she had finished, they were already almost to the castle.

"What coward would harm so a gentle a fair maiden as yourself? What a scoundrel. Why, if I had been there, I would have cut him down in your honor," he told her.

"I know you would have. But...you weren't there. If you don't mind my asking, Sir Diddymus, why did you all stop coming when I needed you?" she asked.

"Why, my lady, you never called," he told her, looking at her curiously.

"Yes I did. I called for you and Hoggle, and Ludo many times. You stopped coming 6 years ago. No matter how many times I called, no one came," she protested.

"Why my dear, if this is the truth, then I suspect someone has been meddling with the magic that allowed you to call us. I would have certainly come at your call without a moments hesitation," he told her.

"Gee, wonder who did it?" she asked facetiously. She had a pretty good idea of who did it. Who else with magic powers would delight in causing her stress?

"So, do you know what happened to Ludo and Hoggle? How are they?" she asked.

"Ah yes, Sir Ludo and Sir Hoggle. True friends, despite their faults. After the Labyrinth began to shrivel and decay, Sir Ludo made a home for himself in part of the forest farthest from the bog. Sir Hoggel was not so fortunate, however. Among us, he was the one to bear the wrath of the King. It was not so long ago that Jareth got his hands on him and dropped him into the bog. The poor man now spends most of his time in the Oubliette. He's convinced he smells terrible. I don't know why," he told her. Of course Diddymus would not understand why a person who had fallen into the bog smells terrible. He was immune to the stench in the bog.

"The Labyrinth is decaying?" she wondered aloud.

"Yes, yes...for some time the Labyrinth has been weakening and that is causing a slow decaying death for everything in it. The once beautiful trees and brush has shriveled up, the bog is slowly draining, and many of the weaker creatures are fading away," Sir Diddymus explained with a tone of sadness. "Many have petitioned the King to do something, but he either does not care, or does not possess the ability to fix it," he added.

Now that he mentioned it, Sarah thought, she had noticed some differences in the Labyrinth. The first time she was there, she could see the hedge maze even from a distance. This time, she could not see anything. Everything was dull and gray, like stone. She hadn't seen any pixies flying around, nor did they run into the smaller creatures which inhabited the Labyrinth. What was happening to cause the Labyrinth to decay as it was?

"Here we are," Sir Diddymus sang out as they reached a door which led into the town. Then, as before, the guard slept as they passed through. Unlike before, however, they met no resistance as they entered town. There was no large machine that attacked them, no soldiers that came after them. The town was bustling with goblins going about their business. They walked straight through a marketplace completely unaccosted. Sarah even stopped to gaze at a collection of pretty gems before they continued on.

"Why isn't anyone trying to stop us?" she asked Sir Diddymus.

"Perhaps, dear lady, it is because your presence here is unexpected," he told her.

'Well, he's right. Last time Jareth knew we were coming. I guess that's why we met all that resistance,' she thought.

Meanwhile, Toby was going into information overload. Everywhere there were goblins running around. In the marketplace, lady goblins bought chicken and grain from loud vendors who shouted about their prices over the voices of their competitors. A number of male goblins lay about drinking from tankards and laughing heartily. It was unlike anything he ever expected to see. He would occasionally slow his pace and eavesdrop on conversations.

"Yeah - me wife works as a maid in the castle," bragged one goblin. "She heard the royal apothecary talking to an advisor about the King. 'Parently, the King is losin' 'is powers. Supposedly he's gotta take a wife or name an heir or somethin' to get 'em back."

"Shit," replied another, "if all he needs is a wife and an heir, he can have me wife an' son. He can deal with 'er bitching and 'is crying and I can finally have some peace an' quiet."

"Toby, hurry up, you're falling behind," Sarah called. Toby turned his attention away from the speaking Goblins, and caught up with his sister and Sir Didymus. They continued walking until they reached the large chained doors of the castle.

"How are we going to open these without Ludo?" Sarah whined, pushing against the doors. Toby and Sir Didymus joined in and tried to help her. They put all their might into pushing, and were surprised when the doors openly quickly. They fell to the floor as the doors flung open, and heard a rush of feet surround them. Toby looked up to find a large group of spear bearing goblins surrounding them.

"What do we have here?" one of them asked.

"Human intruders aided by a treasonous dog," laughed another one.

Sir Diddymus jumped to his feet and brandished his weapon. "I dare you to say that to my face you braggarts!" he cried, launching at one of them. The goblin dodged the attack and hit Diddymus on the back of the head with the butt of his sword. Diddymus fell to the ground and was immediately apprehended and bound by three goblins. One goblin stuck his spear under Sarah's chin and forced her to rise. Another threatened bodily harm to Toby if he didn't do the same. Surrounded and unarmed, they were at the mercy of the guards.

"This one looks familiar," said the guard with his spear to Sarah's throat. "Let's see what our King has to say about her," he said. "Get moving, Girlie!" he shouted at her, forcing her towards the stairs which led to the throne room. The Goblin behind Toby did the same with him. When they reached the top of the stairs, the Goblins cried "Bow to the King!", then shoved them both to the floor.

Sarah landed hard on her stomach and felt the breath knocked out of her. Coughing and wheezing from the combined breathlessness and dust on the floor, she pushed herself up off the ground and took a deep breath.

"That's no way to treat a visitor," drawled an amused voice above her. Recognizing the deep, smooth, and accented voice immediately, her stomach dropped. Not about to let herself be humiliated in front of her greatest rival, she brought herself to her feet and looked the man in front of her square in the eye.

"Hello again, Sarah," chuckled Jareth.

* * *

Author's Note: Due to a tight schedule, I won't be able to produce any more chapters this weekend. Thank you all for reading, and please remember to review this chapter. Have a good week end.


	3. Reunion

Disclaimer: I do not own the story or characters from Jim Henson's 'The Labyrinth', nor am I making any profit from this work.

* * *

**Chapter 3 – Reunion  
**

Toby looked up, bewildered. This man with wild platinum hair in a billowy white shirt and skin tight black pants was the Goblin King? He looked nothing like the Prince Charming character portrayed in his book. He looked more like a rock star – makeup and all. He quickly glanced at his sister to see her reaction. Her eyes and lips narrowed when the king addressed her. She looked as if she had something rude to say, but was trying her hardest not to say it.

"Jareth," Sarah spat, glaring daggers in his direction.

"Don't act so excited to see me, Sarah. I might get the wrong idea," he chuckled, rising from his thrown and approaching her. "And who is this young man? You look so familiar," he said, gazing curiously at Toby.

"I'm...um...I'm Toby, sir," Toby murmured, casting his eyes down to the floor.

"THE Toby? Isn't _this _a surprise? You've grown quite a lot. You're practically a man now," the Goblin king teased.

"I'm only 8," Toby replied, feeling his face heat up. 'How does everyone here know me?' he wondered.

"It's been 8 years already? How time flies. What have you been up to in these past eight years, Sarah?" Jareth inquired, smirking as he turned his attention back to the woman.

"Nothing in particular," she ground out. The King was enjoying this spectacle way too much for her taste.

"Obviously you've been up to something. I'm sure those bruises and cuts didn't appear by themselves," he said as he knelt down and took her chin between his thumb and forefinger.

Sarah yanked her chin out of his grasp and huffed, "Some of us don't have goblins or magic to do our fighting for us." When Jareth raised a finely groomed eyebrow in response, she sighed. She wasn't doing herself any favors by acting this way. She was here to ask for help. Acting like a petulant super-bitch wouldn't do her any favors.

"Actually," she began, sitting up and looking him square in the eyes, "these injuries are a result of why we're here." There was no response, so she continued. "Erm, something happened, back home. They, uh, these people broke in and Toby – well, he wished us here," she said, giving the most simplified version of it.

"So, in fear of your life, you fled to my kingdom for protection," the Goblin King goaded. He was having such fun with this, and when Sarah's face darkened in a scowl, he knew he'd hit a sore spot.

"_I _didn't do anything. Toby made the wish, and he didn't actually expect the wish to come true. You tend to do crazy things when you're afraid for your life," she retorted.

Jareth looked over at Toby, who was quietly watching the exchange between the two of them. He didn't see any indication that Toby disagreed with what Sarah had said, which prompted him to ask his next question. "You mean to tell me, that after all you two went through 8 years ago, he didn't expect the wish to come true?"

Sarah glanced over at her little brother and deadpanned. He looked confused, and a little upset. She had hoped that any mention of him being there 8 years ago wouldn't come up. Of course, Jareth was never one to make things easy on her.

"He doesn't know," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Doesn't know?" the Goblin King repeated in intrigue. 'He doesn't know' could mean so many things. Judging by the looks on both of their faces, he suspected there may be a great deal which her little brother didn't know, which made him want her to elaborate even more.

Sarah hesitated for a moment. She glanced back and forth between her incredibly confused little brother, and the Goblin King who had a transparent look of curiosity on his face. She knew he understood what she meant, and she told him so.

"I honestly have no clue what you mean, nor do I think we'll be progressing any further if you don't explain yourself," he replied, his form the picture of innocent yet demanding scrutiny.

It was like having her arms twisted behind her back in the most painful of ways. On the one hand she could keep her secret, but she wouldn't get what she wanted from the sneaky, under-handed Goblin King. On the other hand, if she spilled the beans, he may grant her the wish to go home, but Toby would probably never forgive her for her past sin. It was a hard choice, and she weighed her options for what seemed like forever to the other people in the room. In the end, she figured this was the only way, and she could only hope that Toby would quickly come to understand and forgive her.

"He doesn't know that he was ever here," she explained, hoping against all hope that he wouldn't make her go into detail. Her hopes were futile.

"You mean to say that he doesn't know you wished for the Goblins to take him away forever?" the King probed. The look of loss on her face, and the horrified shock on her brother's proved it all.

"No," she replied quietly.

Sarah heard a scuffling sound next to her, and looked over. Her brother had jumped to his feet and headed for the doorway. A clumsy goblin scrambled up to restrain him, but Toby pushed him out of the way and ran down the stairs. Two more goblins proceeded to chase him, but were stopped in their tracks when the heard the smooth, deep voice of their King.

"No – let him go. I'm sure he needs time away – let's not deny him that, shall we?" the King said, never once taking his eyes off of Sarah. "Besides, my dear, you and I have catching up to do."

An hour later, Sarah stormed down the stairs of the castle in a fury. Things had not gone as she had planned. First Toby ran away after Jareth had exposed her secret. Then she was forced to sit idly on that stone floor and answer the man's inane questions. After fifteen minutes of inquiries about how much she'd missed him, and taunts about her friends from the Labyrinth, she finally got down to business.

"I was hoping you'd be able to send Toby and me back home," she told him.

"Why would I do that?" he replied. "You've trespassed into my Kingdom, barged into my castle, tried to pick a fight with my guards, and now you expect me to send you home? I'd be within my rights to throw you into the Oubliette with your friend Hugger."

"Hoggle - and like I already told you, we came here by accident. Toby didn't know the wish would come true, and he only made it because he was scared. Trust me, if I'd known he was going to do it, I would've stopped him. The only reason we came to the castle was because you're the only person I know who can send us back home," she snapped back.

"Be that as it may, this isn't like last time, Sarah. I didn't bring you here to save your baby brother. You _are _trespassing into my kingdom whether or not you intended to. This alone gives me the right to punish you as I please," he menaced, a wicked smirk gracing his face.

"But..." she began. He cut her off before she could go any further.

"However, I find myself in a generous mood. I may return you to your home, but only when I deem fit. This is not negotiable. The goblins may only travel between worlds at my behest, so do not think you can bully them into taking you. They fear my wrath far more than yours. Until that time, instead of throwing you in the Bog, I will allow you and your brother to stay in my castle and live in comfort."

"Comfort, yeah, right. I always find myself at home among chickens and foul mouthed little goblins," she snorted.

The Goblin King frowned and chastised her. "I think you'll find it more comfortable than the Bog. I'm being very generous here, Sarah. You will be free to come and go as you please, as long as you meet a single condition, of course."

"What conditions?" she asked, suspicious of anything he had to offer.

"Well, it's in regards to your brother. I require three or four days out of the week with him. He will probably spend most of the time in the study with a private tutor. I'm sure you'll agree a boy his age still requires an education in mathematics, language, and the like." He noticed her preparing to speak, and raised his hand in an unspoken demand for silence. He continued on before she could interrupt. "I think you'll find that this is infinitely preferable to a life in the Bog."

Sarah clenched her teeth in silent rage. She wanted to scream at him. She wanted to tell him exactly where he could stick his offer. She wanted to call him a heartless tyrant, and tell him that he could go to hell. She wanted to do so many things – but she did not want to go to the bog, nor did she wish that fate on Toby.

"Even if I agree, you still have to get Toby to agree, too. After what you did, I doubt he'll be very cooperative," she told him, with a look of smug triumph. The more roadblocks she could throw at the stupid prick, the better.

"I don't have to get him to do anything. It will be your job to convince him to do this. If he declines, of course, then I'll be forced to throw you both in the bog," he announced, returning her smug look with gusto.

She wished he would do the world a favor and keel over. "Fine, I'll see what I can do," she told him, turning on her heel and leaving. Jareth watched silently as she proceeded down the steps. His eyes were contemplative, almost as if he were scheming something.

As Sarah stormed down the steps towards the entry hall, she noticed a group of goblins surrounding the still bound Sir Diddymus. "Cut him loose," she ordered them. They looked at her like she'd lost her mind, and she repeated herself with a more threatening tone. "Cut him loose, now!" she growled. Her request was still ineffective, and she was reaching the end of her patience. She made a move towards one of the guards when a voice rang out behind her.

"Do as she says," Jareth commanded, glaring at them to speed up the process. As they removed the gags and ties from Sir Diddymus, Jareth strolled up beside Sarah and leaned in close to her ear.

"It always helps to say please," he whispered. He smirked as she turned her head away and crouched down to help her friend.

"Cowardly swine! Had I been on my toes I would've defeated the lot of you!" the fox cried.

"Don't worry, Sir Diddymus, it's all over now. Let's just go find Toby. Did you see him run out?" she asked.

"I believe I saw him run out and to the left – perhaps to the south side of the city," he informed her. "Don't worry milady, my tracking skills are equally as proficient as my fighting skills. We'll find him in no time."

"I certainly hope so," she muttered under her breath as they left the castle. She didn't even bother to respond when Jareth heckled her to "come home before dinner". Sir Diddymus climbed onto the back of his trusty hound, and they made their way to the south side of the small city.

Toby wasn't sure how long he'd been running. Every muscle in his legs screamed at him to stop, but he kept going until his legs finally gave out. He tumbled to the ground, narrowly missing a sleeping goblin who, upon Toby's fall, woke up and yelled obscenities at him before turning over and going back to sleep. Toby didn't care about the foul-mouthed goblin, nor did he care about his stinging palms and scraped knees. He sat up and looked around. He didn't know where he was. He was surrounded on all sides by dilapidated buildings. The scent of fried chicken wafted out of the house next to him. If he strained hard enough, he could even hear the high-pitched conversation of the occupants.

"Says he saw a girl, he did. Same one he saw back when he was a castle guard. You know – the one who wished away her baby brother and beat the Master's Labyrinth. Pretty thing, she is. Her baby brother was with 'er, too – or so Icky said. He's still a little 'un, but a hell of a lot bigger than he was before," said an anonymous female voice in a thick English accent.

So it was true. Sarah really had wished him away. Was he such a terrible little brother when he was a baby? What if she had failed? What would have become of him? A million different questions raced through his mind, and all the while the sky grew darker and cloudier. He was finally snapped out of his contemplative reverie when a huge clap of thunder shook the ground, and the sky lit up with a terrifying display of electricity. The clouds burst open with a torrential rain that beat upon the dusty earth with fervor. He slowly climbed to his feet, wincing and hissing at the pain in his knees and legs. He had to find a place to go.

As he stepped out of the ally he was in, he looked around. The streets were devoid of all life – save for a chicken or two squawking and scrambling to find a place for shelter. He turned to the house next to him and debated with himself. Should he bother asking for help? Would they even let him in? Another bright lightning bolt ripped through the sky, and a tumultuous clap of thunder reverberated through the ground. The wind began to pick up, and he made up his mind as a screaming chicken blew past his head. If he didn't get somewhere quickly, he'd be blown away, too.

He approached the door and knocked gently. After a moment of no answer, he knocked again, this time a little louder. The door swung open to reveal an ugly female goblin in a dirty pink dress and equally dirty (and somewhat bloody, he noted) apron. "What do you want?" she asked irritably in a voice he recognized as the voice from earlier.

"Um...sorry to bother you," Toby began, remembering to use his manners to ask for a favor. "Could I please stay with you until the rain stops. I've got nowhere to go right now."

A chicken ran past him and tried to escape the storm by running into the house. She kicked the thing out of the doorway and into the middle of the street before it could even set foot through the door.

"Bloody chickens – always a pest," she snarled. She eyed him carefully, before stating, rather than asking, "You're the little'un that came with the girl."

He nodded quietly, before ducking again to avoid a small branch. It just barely missed his head.

"Well then, I suppose you can come in for a bit. As soon as the weather dies down, it's out you get, though," she said, stepping out of the way to let him through before forcing the door closed behind them. She locked it down for good measure.

He had been eying the squat, food-laden table in the corner of the room when she spoke to him again, this time to chide him. "Now don't you go expectin' us to feed you. We only let you in to get out of that hell of a storm."

"No, ma'am, I wasn't expecting anything. Thank you for letting me stay here," he said, ignoring his growling stomach. The scent of the food made his mouth water, and he looked away from the table to avoid any further torture.

She pointed to their right at a small wicker couch with plush looking off-white cushions. "You can sit there 'till the storm ends," she told him. He obeyed, speaking only to thank her again. He sat and quietly observed the small house he took up shelter in. The ceiling was quite low. The ceiling was a mere half an inch from the ends of his curly blond hair, and he only stood a little over four feet tall. A fire roared in small fireplace across from the couch. To his left, in the back corner of the room was a small staircase that led to the second story. The diners sat at the table diagonally across the room from him. The small circular table somehow managed to have enough room for 6 little goblins. They laughed and joked as they tore into the fried chicken carcass before them. None of them addressed him, but he was not forgotten. Every once in a while their beady little eyes would flicker over in his direction, but when he returned their gaze they would turn their attention back to the food and the dirty jokes another goblin was telling.

His eyes rose to the ceiling as he heard the wind pick up in ferocity yet again. He sighed and sat back against the cushions of the wicker sofa. Clearly he was going to be here for a while.

Jareth had been watching the progress of the siblings as they made their way through his Goblin city. Toby could run far and fast for a boy his age. His physical fitness was impressive. He chuckled when the boy fell flat on his face in some god forsaken alleyway in the southeastern corner of the city, not too far from the southern Labyrinth gate. He contemplated going and collecting the boy before he got himself lost in the city – or worse, the Labyrinth. He decided against it, finding it so much fun to watch these two run amok. He was curious to see how the reunion between Toby and Sarah would go when they found one another. Would he scream? Would she cry? Will forgiveness be given? He already knew Sarah regretted what she did with every fiber of her being. That much was obvious when he'd come to collect the boy the first time It amazed him to this day how relentless she was when the person on the line was someone she loved. Most people just gave up.

'Speaking of Sarah,' he thought. The scene in his crystal flickered, and Toby disappeared from view. He was now watching the progress of Sarah and her annoying fox friend. They were mere blocks away from where Toby had fallen, and slowly heading in his direction. Every other minute Sarah would cup her hands around her mouth, and her lips would move. She was calling for Toby, but it was pointless. There was too much clatter in the goblin city to be heard from such a distance.

The wind picked up a little, turning from a breeze to a moderate wind. It felt a bit heavy, and smelled somewhat moist, almost as if it carried a hint of rain.

He looked away from his crystal to the kingdom outside the window he was perched in. 'Damn it, not again,' he mentally snarled as he watched the clouds form over the Labyrinth and the Goblin City. If ever there was a clear indicator of how out of control this situation was, the violently spontaneous weather events were as clear as it could get. A warm morning would give way to a snowy afternoon, or a dry spell would instantly turn into a flooding rain. The weakening of the Labyrinth was not just affecting its inhabitants, it was affecting the whole ecosystem. Rain began to fall heavily, and soon the once bone-dry ground was slick and muddy. No doubt there would be another flood.

He peered back into his crystal, this time a frown on his face. The fox was tugging at the girl's hand, as if trying to pull her somewhere safe. She pulled her hand back and shook her head, before continuing on the path they had been taking. She kept calling out, but he doubted her voice could carry over the wind that was pushing her back so forcefully. At this rate she would get herself and her fox friend killed, and that did not bode well for his plans. The view in his crystal switched again, and this time he could see Toby resting on a dirty little wicker couch in a goblin home. Across the room 6 goblins dined heartily, while Toby watched hungrily. Jareth frowned – his subjects really had no manners. The crystal in his hand disappeared, and he stood up abruptly. Clearly he would have to go and collect the two, seeing as Sarah was willing to risk life and limb to find her brother. It was a good quality, in his opinion, but a foolish one.

He turned on his heel and when he came to an about face he was crouching in the home that he was viewing a few seconds ago.

The crunch of a boot against the dirt alerted everyone in the little house that someone else was here. Toby turned his head quickly and nearly fell off the couch when he saw the Goblin King crouching just a few feet to his left.

"Your Majesty!" shouted a few of the goblins, who crawled out of their chair and groveled. The King's expression clearly indicated his irritation, and they knew immediately he was displeased with them. He glared at them coldly before turning to Toby.

"Toby, come with me back to the castle," he said in an authoritative tone.

Toby's gaze switched back and forth between the family of Goblins, and the intimidating king before him. He was hungry, tired, cold, and he wanted to leave this place – but what would happen to him if he went with the Goblin King? Would he lock him in a dungeon?

As if he could read minds, the Goblin King's face softened almost imperceptibly. Jareth stretched out his hand in offering and said, "You will be given a large dinner and escorted to a room for the night."

"What about Sarah?" Toby asked, his anger was not strong enough to keep him from worrying about her.

"She will receive the same treatment. First we must go and collect her before she kills herself looking for you," the king answered, his hand still outstretched.

"She's looking for me?" he inquired, genuine surprise written all over his face. He stood and approached the Goblin King, raising his hand carefully and letting it hover a short distance from the ruler's hand.

"Of course, she's you sister. It's what she does." the king replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. He quickly took hold of the boy's hand, and without even so much as a good-bye, the King and Toby vanished, leaving 6 gaping goblins in their wake.

"My lady, are you sure you don't want to find shelter?" Sir Diddymus asked while helping Sarah off the ground. She had slipped in the mud and fell flat on her back, screaming in pain as her head made contact with the muddy ground. As soft as it was, the impact on her already injured head hurt like hell. She stood up and felt the back of her head, which was currently hurting as bad as she had when she woke up outside the Labyrinth. When she looked at her hand she could see streams of red being washed away from her fingers.

'Lovely, my wound re-opened,' she groaned inwardly.

"We're close Sir Diddymus, I know we are," she said, looking around. She had no idea just how close they were. A mere 100 ft. further and she have found herself standing directly in front of the house Toby had been in just moments ago.

"But my lady, it will be difficult to track him in all this rain. The smell and the tracks have already washed away. Besides, you're injured. We should seek help for you immediately. I'm sure young Toby is fine. He's probably back at the castle by now," he reasoned as he climbed back up onto his sopping wet steed.

"Tell you what, you can head back to the castle and see if he's there. If I don't have any more luck in the next five minutes, I promise I'll stay and wait for you to come back," she said, pointing at an empty doorway sheltered from the wind rain by a small overhang. After much deliberation, the fox sighed and responded. "Do you promise that you will stay there if you do not find him?" he asked. She nodded in answer and the fox shook his head in exasperation.

"Very well, Milady. This goes against my better judgment, but I can see you're passionate about this, so I will agree to your terms," he shrugged.

"Thank you, Sir Diddymus, you're a great friend," she laughed, giving him a quick hug.

"Stay safe, Milady, I will return soon," he bid her farewell, and galloped in the direction they came. When he was hidden by the curtain of rain, she continued down the path they had been going. She stopped dead a moment later when she heard a familiar voice call out to her.

"You won't find him, Sarah," Jareth called, his voice strangely clear despite the roar of the falling rain. Sarah turned to her right to see Jareth standing underneath the cover of a doorway.

She scowled at him. "How do you know?"

"Because, my dear, I have already collected him myself and have taken him back to my castle. Now if you're quite done drowning yourself in this downpour, I suggest you allow me to take you back as well," he instructed.

"I'm a big girl, I can make it back on my own," she countered, turning on her heel and heading back in the direction of the castle.

Behind her, the Goblin King allowed himself an undignified roll of his eyes. In a split second he was gone from the doorway and standing a hair's breadth away from Sarah. She stopped immediately to avoid colliding into him, but had no such luck. The immediate withdrawal of momentum from her quick pace threw her body off balance and she fell into the man in front of her. He caught her in his arms and trapped her firmly against his body. Though her arms were pinned, and she was still off balance, she attempted to squirm out of his hold.

A low chuckle caught her attention and she looked up at his face. She saw him looking down at her with an unreadable expression in his eyes and a sly smirk on his face and she blushed angrily. His grip on her became a little firmer, and the unreadable expression in his eyes turned into what she saw as amusement. "I'm afraid, my dear, that you don't have a choice in the matter," he drawled. She felt an odd tug at her belly button, and suddenly her muddy environment disappeared. Its place had been taken by the front hall of the castle.

The second after the Goblin King had grabbed Toby's hand, Toby found himself standing inside a large entryway. The large chained doors from earlier were now shut tight against the storm. Shadows were banished to the corners by glowing candles hanging from a chandelier and from the walls. He felt the king release him, and took a step or two away from the man.

A small goblin lady scrambled over to them and bowed before the King. He addressed her with a tone in his voice that commanded immediate obedience, as if time were money and he was almost broke.

"Frilla, go and fetch Cavin immediately. Tell him his presence is required in the front hall, and that he is to check up on the welfare of this young boy, and a young women whom I'll be bringing about shortly," he commanded. The goblin bowed and muttered, "Yes, Your Majesty," before disappearing into thin air.

They waited in complete silence for 5 minutes until a tall, thin man with fair skin and long black hair appeared at the top of the steps. His sterling-silver eyes swept from the face of his king to the face of the boy next to him. He continued his approach, stopping five feet from them to bow to the king.

"My Lord, I take it this is the boy you wanted me to look at?" he inquired as he righted himself.

Jareth nodded, and replied, "This is him, and there's a girl on the way. I want them examined and healed immediately."

The man nodded, before setting down a large black bag that Toby hadn't noticed earlier. Crouching down on one knee, he looked Toby square in the eye. "Good evening young man – what is your name?" he asked.

"Toby."

"Toby, is it? An excellent name. My name is Cavin, I am the healer in this castle. Whenever you are feeling ill I am the person to come to," Cavin said. He peered at Toby's palms and knees and 'tsked' twice. "I can see you've had a lesson in gravity. Show me your palms, please," he instructed.

Toby lifted his palms and the healer gently held each hand as he closely examined them. A few seconds passed before he instructed Toby to sit on a step so that he could examine his knees. After the examination, Cavin reached into his black bag and pulled out a small bottle of yellow liquid, a rag, and what looked to Toby like a set of tweezers. He poured the liquid onto the rag and used it to clean the tweezers, being careful not to miss a spot. Without diverting his attention from his task, he addressed the King who had not yet left.

"The wounds are minor, but they have dirt and other debris in them and need to be cleaned out before healing. Other than that, this boy is in good condition," he said.

The King, obviously hearing what he wanted to hear, vanished without a word. He reappeared a few minutes later completely wet and holding an equally soaked Sarah. As soon as he saw his sister, Toby made a move to stand up, but Cavin grabbed his shoulder firmly and forced him to stay down. He had already cleaned 3 of Toby's injuries and was working on the fourth. Toby wished he would go a bit faster so he could get up. As if he could read minds, the healer set the tweezers and rag down. "Well, now all that's left is the healing part," he told Toby. Instead of bandages, as Toby had expected, Cavin rested his hands a fraction of an inch above his knees. His knees began to itch something terrible, but he knew better than to scratch. The feeling slowly faded into a pleasant tingling sensation, and a few seconds later it was all over. Cavin pulled his hands back to reveal two well healed knees peeking out from large bloody holes in his jeans. Toby's surveyed the work, his eyes widening in complete surprise. There was no scab, no pain, and not even a scar. It was as if he never got hurt in the first place.

"Now your hands," Cavin said, reaching out with his palms turned toward the ground. Still in shock, Toby raised his upturned palms to Cavin's hands. As the insane itch began in his palms, the skin on his hands began to regrow. He watched in amazement as the wound scabbed, then the scab gave way to pinkish skin. The pleasant tingling feeling took over as the pinkish skin took on Toby's normal skin color and complexion. Almost as soon as it had begun, it was over, and Toby was staring at perfectly healed palms.

"Wow! Did you just...was that magic?" he asked excitedly. Cavin smiled and gave a short nod in reply.

"Sarah, did you see what he did? I don't have any scrapes any more...he just poofed them away!" Toby said, jumping up from his seat on the stoop and launching himself towards his sister, his anger at her forgotten in excitement. Sarah, who had detached herself from the Goblin King the moment she regained her sense of balance, had held back from going to her brother at the Goblin King's behest. Or rather, he grabbed her by the arm and refused to let her go until the healer had completed his work. She met her brother halfway and dropped to her knees to hold him in a tight embrace.

"Sarah...can't...breath," Toby gasped, pushing against her chest. She let him go and placed a hand on each side of his head.

"Don't you EVER run off on me like that again. Understand?" she scolded, more out of worry than anger. Toby's expression changed from surprise to guilt, and finally to anger in a matter of seconds.

"Sure, as long as you promise not to wish me away ever again," he bit out, the reason for his flight coming back to his mind with full force.

"That was a long time ago, I was different then," she told him quietly. As much as she wanted to let her little brother know that she could never be sorry enough for her past mistake, she didn't feel much like sharing it in front an audience.

Said audience was currently watching the scene unfold, one with a look of quiet amusement, and the other with genuine curiousity. Toby huffed angrily and looked down at his feet.

"Yeah, well...you still shouldn't have done it," he finally said. He was still angry, of course, but this was his sister he was talking about. This is the girl who cooked for him and cleaned the house and yelled at his teachers when they gave him detention because he had fought back against the school bully. It would be hard to stay mad, but he was going to try, darn it.

"I know, and I'm sorry I did it," came Sarah's regretful reply.

Someone cleared their throat and both Sarah and Toby's attention turned toward the source of the sound. It was Cavin, who took a step forward and smiled amicably.

"I'm sorry to disturb your exchange, but I can't help but notice that you've sustained injuries," he told Sarah. "I have been ordered to see to your well being, so if you don't mind, I'd like to assess your injuries so that I may deal with them as soon as possible."

"I'm fine, really," Sarah replied, still holding her brother.

"Liar, you've got blood in your hair. Your head is still bleeding, isn't it!" Toby exclaimed, pulling away from her and trying to get a better look.

"It's not that bad," Sarah protested.

"Cavin will be the judge of that," Jareth interjected. "Frilla," he called to the small figure in the shadows. The goblin came forward and bowed to him again, waiting for whatever command he was about to give. "Take Toby to the kitchens, see that he has a full meal. Then show him to one of the guest rooms in the west wing. Draw his bath and get him a clean set of clothes" he ordered. Frilla nodded enthusiastically and trotted up to Toby.

"Come," she said in a high pitched voice, taking Toby's hand and tugging it a little. "I get you dinner."

Toby looked at Sarah, then back to the little goblin. Should he go? He was hungry after all, but couldn't he wait for his sister?

"Toby," the goblin king said sternly, "your sister will be fine. She'll be along shortly."

"Go on, Toby," Sarah encouraged. "Go get some food, I'll see you in a bit."

Toby nodded and let Frilla tug him along a corridor to the right. Sarah stood up and watched them disappear around a corner. She could still hear Frilla talking about the food she would make for Toby. At least one being in this castle seemed happy to have them here. Or maybe Frilla was just a rare specimen of her kind. Perhaps she was the only goblin in the whole of the Underground who didn't have a foul mouth and equally foul manners?

A hand placed gently on her shoulder brought her attention back to the room. Cavin had closed the distance between them and now stood looking at her with warm eyes – or as warm as one's eyes can get when they were the color of sterling silver. "If I may?" he asked, seeking her permission to inspect her.

"Sure," she acquiesced with an unsure tone. "I really am fine, though," she added, as if it would deter him. Cavin, who was presently examining her head, chuckled. He brushed close to the wound on the back of her head and she let out a low hiss of pain. He apologized quietly and moved around behind her. He carefully parted her hair and examined the damage.

"May I ask how you got this wound?" he questioned.

"Um...I was pistol whipped, I think," she said.

"What a strange whip to leave such an odd laceration. What kind of whip is this 'pistol whip'?" he asked curiously.

Sarah laughed, but quickly stifled it. She had forgotten about the huge culture difference between the Underground and her world. "No, it means hit with the handle of a gun," she told him.

Jareth, who had been quietly observing the scene, immediately spoke up. "What were you doing that involved a gun?"

"The break in, remember? People usually don't break into another person's house without a weapon of some kind," Sarah reminded him. 'Especially when they're there for the sole purpose of hurting you,' she added mentally. That was need to know information, though, and the Goblin King didn't even make it on the list of people who needed to know.

"Let me guess...you decided to take the armed intruder on, like the typical heroine," Jareth sneered.

"Actually, if you must know, I didn't decide to do anything of the sort. I was trying to get out of the house and call for help, and it didn't work out so well," she stated irritably.

"Obviously," he remarked.

Sarah's face flushed in anger and she opened her mouth to retaliate. Before she could utter the first syllable of her retort, however, Cavin interrupted her.

"I'm going to clean your wounds now, please hold very still," he requested. His right hand held the same tool he'd used to clean Toby's wounds moments ago. Sarah did as requested, wincing occasionally when he had to dig a little deep to get the dirt out.

"Surely being hit in the back of the head of a pistol wouldn't leave this much debris in the wound," Cavin said. It was a statement, but Sarah heard the question underneath it. 'How did your wound get so dirty?' was what he was really asking.

"I fell in the mud a few minutes ago," she explained. She didn't see him nod in understanding.

When the healer was sure he'd cleaned the wound sufficiently, he placed his palm to the back of her head. "You'll feel some discomfort, but this will be over quickly," he assured. Sarah made a little noise to indicate she understood, and waited – tense and a little impatient – for what was to come next. She put on her brave face when she felt the wound begin to heal. When the uncomfortable itch gave way to a tingling sensation, her entire body visibly relaxed and she almost let out a sigh of relief. The entire process took a little under a minute.

Cavin moved around to face her and lifted his hand to her face. "I can heal this as well," he said, referring to her busted lip.

"No, no, that's alright," Sarah almost shouted, jumping back from him. Why did she feel uncomfortable all of the sudden?

"Are you sure? It will only take a moment," he said, his elegant black brows knitting together in concern.

"It's not a big deal – I'm a fast healer anyways. It'll be gone in a few days." she assured him, taking another step back and giving him her most convincing smile.

"Very well then. If that's what you choose..." he trailed off, looking up at the King, who nodded silently. If the King wasn't going to press the issue, then neither would he.

"Well then, if I have fulfilled all that was required of me, then I'll take my leave now," the healer said, putting things back in his case. He faced his king and bowed deeply.

"My lord," he said quietly. He stood up and turned to Sarah.

"Good Night, Miss," he said, performing a small bow.

"It's Sarah...just Sarah, no miss," she said as he stood upright.

"Well then, Good Night...Sarah," he smiled, then turned and left the way he came.

"If you're done flirting, I'll show you to the kitchen," Jareth jeered as Cavin disappeared from sight.

"Wow, the high and mighty King of the Goblins is jealous over little old me. I'm flattered…really," she stated sardonically as he began walking in the direction Toby and the goblin had left earlier.

Jareth's stride did now slow or waver as he continued toward the kitchens. "You flatter _yourself. _I was simply remarking on your wanton display. If anything, it is unflattering."

Sarah stopped dead in her tracks, her jaw hanging in complete shock. Was he calling her a flirt? A whore? What exactly was he trying to say? His implied accusations sent her head reeling and she couldn't possibly comprehend what part of that exchange could possibly come off as flirtatious or loose. She clenched her jaw shut and continued following him, dead set on ripping his sorry hide a new one. Words such as "misogynist pig" and "fucking ass hole" tumbled around in her brain until she was struck with a moment of clarity. He was trying to get a rise out of her. Taunting people was what this man did best, and she was willing to bet he got off on it. Well, two can play at that game, right?

"So are you jealous because I can talk to a guy that's better looking than you without insulting him? Or are you just jealous of him, period?" she taunted.

At this the Goblin King stopped in his tracks and whirled around to face her. Behind him the smell of roasted meat wafted through a doorway. She could hear the faint voices of her brother and the goblin he had left with. They had already arrived at the kitchens.

Gleeful at her triumph, she glared at the Goblin King, but faltered at the look in his eyes. She didn't expect him to be happy with her retort, but she didn't expect the look of cold fury in his eyes.

"I don't know what disgusting habits they teach you mortal girls, but here there is a certain etiquette that is expected of guests," Jareth seethed, ignoring Sarah's disdainful snort at the word "guest". "So let me give you a quick lesson in manners, girl. You do not insult your host, nor fraternize with his help. You forget that I can still throw you into the bog, and the only reason I haven't already done so is for the sake of your dear brother. However," he paused, raising his hand to her face only for her to flinch away. He clenched his hand and returned it to his side.

"You make it very tempting, Sarah, and even I can only take so much before I give into temptation. So I advise you to restrain yourself in the future. Am I clear?" he asked.

Sarah glared at him at moment, shaken a bit from the force of his threat. She nodded slightly before raising her head, determined not to show exactly how shaken she was. "Crystal," she answered.

"Good girl", he replied, assuming his normal teasing persona. "Now go join your brother in the kitchens. When you are ready to retire, you will take the room across from his," he explained, before stalking past her with an air of dominant finality.

When he had disappeared from sight, Sarah let go of a breath she didn't even know she'd been holding. She closed her eyes and willed herself to calm down. When she had managed some form of composure, she continued her treck towards the doorway. The sight that greeted her brought a smile to her face and instantly drove all thought of the previous moment away.

* * *

A/N: Review please.


	4. Adjustment

**Chapter Four: Adjusting**

A small female goblin darted about the kitchen. Her small, beak-like mouth was moving a mile a minute. Occasionally she would pause to glance back at the curly haired boy sitting at the island counter and shake her head disapprovingly. The boy was simultaneously stuffing his face with what looked like leftover roast, and occasionally reaching over his shoulder to offer small bits of the meat to a red-harnessed ferret who was peaking out of his back pack. The ferret ate with gusto, completely oblivious to the goblin's rant.

"Rats, in the castle – the child has brought rats in the castle. Oh my, as if the chicken filth was not enough," the goblin muttered as she pulled a loaf of bread from a cupboard and begin to slice off fats chunks of it.

"He's not a rat – he's a ferret. Completely differen' animals," Toby explained around a mouth full of food.

"Well, I none to sure of that, young Sir. He certainly looks like a rat, and he don't smell much better than one," the goblin squawked as she brought a plate of bread slices to the boy's side.

"Yeah but..." Toby paused to swallow his food. "But, ferrets are cleaner. Plus, he's not even a...um...a rodent. He doesn't even look like one. He's more like a weasel – no offense Frack." The ferret continued on with his meal, completely indifferent to the conversation. Clearly no offense was taken.

"So you say, but you be sure the Master doesn't catch you with that animal – and don't you go letting him run wild in the castle, neither. He mustn't chew holes in the curtains. I just sewed them last week," she reprimanded the boy as she slid two large chunks of bread onto his plate.

"Yes ma'am," Toby answered before biting into the toughened piece of bread he'd been given.

At this point the spectator in the entryway stepped forward, making themselves known to the two others in the room. Toby beamed momentarily before taking another bite from his bread. The small goblin bowed and greeted the abruptly.

"Good evening, Miss Sarah, may I get you something to eat?" the goblin inquired.

"Thi' meat is awe'ome," Toby added. Sarah could see the half-chewed bread threatening to spill from his mouth as he spoke.

"Toby, don't talk with your mouth full. It's gross," She reprimanded, ignoring his muffled and unintelligible protest in response."If you don't mind, I'll have a little bit of whatever Toby is eating, thanks."

"A little? Not hungry miss?" the goblin asked as she began to carve into a obscenely large haunch of meat.

Sarah shook her head in response. "I could eat, though."

"As you should, Miss. It's not healthy to miss a meal," the goblin added sagely as she transferred the meat to a plate and proceeded to set up Sarah's dinner. When she was done Sarah was seated in front of a plate of unknown meat, with two slices of bread and a glass of water. She thanked the goblin and experimentally picked at her food. The meat tasted smoky, and pretty good, in Sarah's opinion. Preferring not to guess at exactly what it was she was eating, Sarah ate slowly and quietly, listening to the back and forth between her baby brother and the goblin about his ferret.

When they had both finished their dinner, Sarah moved to gather Toby's empty plate, only to be stopped by the goblin.

"No need for that, Miss. We have maids for a reason," she said, gently coaxing her away from her place at the counter.

Ignoring Sarah's half-hearted protests, the goblin insisted upon showing them to their rooms, at which point Sarah relayed what Jareth had told her about her sleeping situation. The Goblin nodded in understanding, and led them up a stairwell to the the right of kitchens. The next floor was dimly lit and in dire need of dusting. Sarah reckoned this floor had been uninhabited as long as she had been alive – perhaps longer.

"Excuse the mess," the goblin beseeched them, her embarrassment at the state of the hall obvious. "We don't see many visitors here...that stay long, anyway. The sheets were changed, though," she added, as she pushed open a large oak door that squeaked in protest.

Inside was a modestly sized room with a four-poster bed. Parallel to the bed was a large window heavily curtained with navy blue draperies. In the farthest corner, a simple dressing screen colored to match the drapes stood a good few feet out into the room. Behind the screen stood both a half concealed door and aged cast iron bath tub. A small dresser with a wash basin sat opposite the foot of the bed, in the center of the wall. It was like stepping into a Renaissance or Elizabethan era bed room, Sarah mused.

With almost inhuman speed, Toby lunged forward and belly flopped onto the bed. To Sarah's great relief, a cloud of dust did NOT arise from the impact. As the goblin had said, the sheets had been changed. The goblin chuckled at the boy's antics.

"Sarah, this bed is SUPER soft, you've gotta try this," he all but moaned.

"Toby," Sarah sighed, half in admonishment, half in exhaustion.

"Oh yeah – this IS my room, right?" he asked, raising his head just enough to look at the goblin.

"This is your room, for now," the goblin assured. She moved into the room and opened the curtains. Outside a waning moon shined as bright as it dared. The goblin unlatched the ancient iron latch keeping the windows closed and pushed one of the panes open. A cool moist breeze wafted in, causing the candle flames to stutter and Sarah to breath deeply, as if to rid her lungs of the old stagnant air that overwhelmed the room.

"The night will be cool, this should keep you room comfortable," the goblin explained, as she moved to turn down the sheets on the bed.

Toby ignored her, and instead launched himself from the bed a ran to the window.

"Sarah, I can see the whole city from here!" he exclaimed. "Hey...where does that door go?" he inquired, his attention suddenly diverted by the door behind the dressing screen.

"That, young Sir, is the water closet," the goblin replied matter-of-factly,

"The water closet?" Toby repeated, clearly confused.

"The toilet, Toby. A water closet is a room just for the toilet," Sarah explained, still not moving from her place in the door way. Toby's face lit up in understanding, though he did open the door and peek inside as if to assure himself that Sarah was telling the truth. Once his curiosity was sated, he returned from behind the dressing screen, his nose wrinkling in distate.

"It smells funny," he remarked, rubbing his nose as if trying to get the offending odor out of his nostrils.

"It's a bathroom, it's supposed to smell funny. What I'm worried about is getting you cleaned up and finding a place to put Frack so he can't run off. He can't stay in your back pack all night," she told him, finally leaving her post at the door and crossing the room to the dresser. She opened a drawer and, after a moment of examination, closed it with a contemplative look on her face.

To Sarah's surprise, Toby didn't argue with this. Instead he dashed past her and out the door, but before she could chase after him, he came right back and leaned through the door way, keeping one hand on the frame to hold himself up.

"I just had an idea. I'll be right back," he told her before he pushed off from the doorway and took off again. Sarah ran to the door and called after to him stop.

"It'll just be a minute," he called back as he reached the end of the hall.

Sarah growled in frustration and moved to go after him, but a hand on her thigh stopped her.

"Don't worry miss, none will hurt him in this castle, and the exits are guarded. He can't leave. Come, I show you to your room," Frilla assured. The small goblin beckoned her to follow. Sarah grumbled under her breath but followed the goblin without complaint.

She was led to a door across the hall. It wasn't directly across from Toby's room, but it was as close as any of the rooms on the opposite side got. When the goblin opened the door, Sarah gasped in shocked awe.

The room before her was twice the size of Toby's. It was set up much like the room before, though far more elaborately furnished. The draperies and matching screen were a burgundy red. In place of the dresser was a cherry-wood vanity, and a large matching wardrobe stood to it's left. Beneath the large window sat a plush reading bench large enough for a fully grown adult to recline comfortably. The pièce de résistance, however, was the dark stoned fireplace set in the corner by the window. It faced diagonally into the room, so that no matter where you stood, you could always gaze at the flames unobstructed. Sarah envisioned herself lying on her side in bed, staring simultaneously at a roaring fire and a starlit sky outside the window. Her daydream was broken by the small goblin tearing opening the window as she had in Toby's room to let in the cool night air.

"Is this...am I staying in this room?" Sarah asked, her voice hushed in disbelief.

"Yes Miss. The Master must think something special of you to give you the best of the guest rooms. I always did like the view from this room 'n particular," the goblin said, sighing somewhat dreamily as she looked out the window at something below. Curious, Sarah approached the window to see what the goblin was talking about. To her great surprise, her window did not look out upon the goblin city like Toby's. Instead, her window faced what she assumed could only be the courtyard – and what a courtyard it was! Even cast in shadows, the dancing torchlight below revealed a miniature maze of flowering bushes and lush trees. In the center stood a large fountain, at least a story high. Sarah thought she could almost here the trickling sounds of water, though her rational mind told her she was too far for that too be possible.

"Wow," Sarah remarked dumbly.

"Yes. It's not as nice as it once was, like everything else in the Kingdom. Still - Master has worked very hard to keep it alive and tended," the goblin explained a little sadly. She turned away from the window and shuffled to the bed to turn down the covers. When Sarah had turned away from the window, the goblin had already finished that task and was busy laying a plain white nightgown out on the bed. Sarah smiled thankfully at the little goblin, still amazed that there existed goblins that weren't so crass and mischievous.

A thump and exclamation of pain outside the door alerted the occupants of the room that Toby had returned. Sarah hurried out to find Toby trying (and failing), to haul a large wooden crate into his bedroom. Sarah rushed over and took the box from him.

"What's this for?" she asked as she followed him into his room.

"A place for Frack to stay. I saw it in the kitchen when I was eating," he said, pointing at a spot next to the dresser to indicate where he wanted it. "It's got holes so he can breath, and a lid so he can't get out. I even got him a little bowl for his water dish."

"What about bedding?" Sarah asked, examining the empty crate.

"I can use all that homework paper in my backback," he answered.

"You didn't do any...you mean all that homework paper you didn't turn this year that got me in trouble with your teachers? That homework paper? It's been in your backpack the whole time?" she seethed.

"Well, uh," Toby faltered, realizing he'd just outed himself. "Well it's a good thing I DIDN'T do it, because if I did do it Frack wouldn't have any bedding tonight."

"Uh huh," Sarah huffed, rolling her eyes in irritation. Angry as she was, it was too late and she was too tired to fight about this. "Well it's too late now to do anything about it, but you OWE me for all that time I had to sit there and listen to your teacher chew me out for your laziness, buster."

"Okay," Toby shrugged. He unzipped his backpack and set to work making a comfortable home for his furry friend.

"Excuse me, Miss," Frilla interrupted from the doorway. Sarah turned towards her and inclined her head as a silent indication of her attention.

"The young Sir's bed clothes have been lain out and his bathwater drawn. Would you like me to assist in putting him to bed?" she asked.

"No, I've got it, thanks," Sarah replied. The goblin nodded and offered a small bow before leaving them.

Sarah yawned and turned towards the task of getting her brother bathed and in bed. This could be a while.

* * *

An hour later Sarah shuffled into her room and groaned in exhaustion. Getting Toby to bed when he was so excited proved to be difficult, but she eventually got him scrubbed, dressed, and settled down enough to crawl into bed. He was out once his head hit the pillow. The lucky little snot.

"Ah Miss, you've returned," a shrill voice remarked. It was Frilla, much to Sarah's surprise. She thought the goblin had left for the night.

"Your bath water is still hot. I stayed to tidy only until you came back. I leave you now," the goblin declared with another small bow.

"Frilla," Sarah called when the goblin had reached the door. The goblin turned and regarded her.

"How do I..." Sarah gestured to the candlees, not quite sure how to phrase her question. Turn them off? Put them out?

"Tell them 'good night', Miss, and they will stop burning," the goblin said.

Thoroughly confused, but wanting desperately to have the room to herself, Sarah thanked the goblin and closed the door behind her. She'd figure it out later. Right now, a bath was her number one priority.

Leaving a trail of clothes behind her, Sarah made her way over to the tub and eased herself in. The steaming water made her muscles scream in relief. After a few minutes she reached down and picked up a smooth stone from the water and rolled it lazily across her thigh. She had discovered during Toby's bath that the taps did not have temperature control, so the baths were warmed by stones which heat up when touched by water, and cool down once dry. She and Toby had a bit of fun testing it out and hypothesizing how they might work. They settled decidedly on magic.

When she'd been in long enough to prune, she finished her bath and dressed for bed. She slid under the downy comforter and glanced at a lit candle. She chewed her lip anxiously for a moment before giving in to Frilla's advice. Silly as it sounded, it couldn't hurt to try, right?

"Good night," she said, still staring at the candle. Every flame flickered before dying down and smoldering out completely.

_'Well, that was easy enough,' _Sarah thought. She turned over on to her side and stared out the open window until an uneasy sleep finally took her.

* * *

"Toby don't run down the stairs, you'll break your neck that way," Sarah yelled as her brother raced passed her and Frilla to beat them to the bottom of the stairs. It was too early for this, she decided. She should have just stayed in bed and refused to come downstairs for breakfast. Unfortunately, Toby, who had took it upon himself to help the goblin rouse his sister, wouldn't have it. After he had jumped around on her bed and yanked her covers off for the umpteenth time, Sarah begrudgingly crawled off her downy mattress and dressed in the get-up Frilla had laid out for her. To the goblin's credit, she had good taste. The dress was a simple cut, red, with gold trim. The boots were brown leather, and kind of sexy looking in Sarah's opinion. It was comfortable, but best of all it was clean, which couldn't be said for her normal clothes.

Toby, on the other hand, was not quite receptive to Frilla's choice of apparel. He wore the black trousers and blue linen shirt without complaint but drew a line at the boots. Sarah had not been there to help him dress so Frilla gave in, and the result was rather laughable. Modern tennis shoes clashed with 17th century style casual wear, and Sarah was too tired to correct it. As long as he wasn't running around naked, Sarah didn't see what the problem was.

Toby and Sarah were led through a set of heavy oak doors into a large circular room. In the center sat an aged oval table with three occupants. In the largest most ornate chair sat none other than Jareth. To his right a few chairs over sat Cavin, the healer from last night. To Jareth's left sat a dwarf that Sarah had not seen before. He looked older than Hoggle (if that was even possible), but dressed in a cleaner, more fine version of the attire Hoggle normally wore.

"Ah, Sarah...Toby, so good of you to finally join us. Have a seat," Jareth said, gesturing to two empty chairs on opposite sides of the table with plates in front of them. Sarah moved to sit next to Cavin, when Jareth commanded Toby take his seat next to the healer. Toby obliged, too excited about the prospect of food to care where he sat. Sarah shot a heated glare at Jareth, which he answered with an arrogant lift his brow that dared her to make a scene. She didn't. She quietly took her seat next to the dwarf, who had not stopped shoving food in his mouth since they'd first entered.

Frylla and two other female goblins rushed to fill their plates and refresh the drinks of the 3 earlier occupants. Toby dug in without having to be asked twice, but Sarah picked absently at her fried egg with a fork. The slurping sounds coming from beside her did nothing for her appetite.

"Are you well this morning, Sarah? Your head isn't bothering you, I hope?" Cavin asked, clearly noticing Sarah's disinterest in the food.

"I'm fine," she answered, giving him a reassuring smile. "You did an excellent job, Cavin. Thanks again."

"Yeah – I don' eben hab a scab," Toby butted in, barely containing a whole fried egg in his mouth. Sarah shot him a warning glare and he smiled sheepishly. He swallowed with some effort and apologized.

Cavin nodded and smiled. "Healing magic has it's uses every now and again," he said. Toby nodded vigorously in agreement and both Sarah and Cavin smiled at his enthusiasm.

"Always the modest one, Cavin," Jareth mockingly chided. Cavin's smile widened and he bowed his head to the King. It would have been a humble gesture, if not for the playful look in his eyes.

"Toby," the Goblin King began, leaning back in his seat and settling his gaze on the boy. "Has your sister yet mentioned to you yet that you'll be staying with us for a while?"

"Really, we are? Awesome!" Toby exclaimed, unable to contain his excitement.

"Yes, you are staying. Both of you. However, there are conditions you must meet during your stay," the King continued.

"O...kay?" Toby answered. Sarah wasn't sure if he was hung up on what those conditions are, or – more likely – he was wondering what a condition was.

"First, Sarah will be taking care of you. Second, you may go anywhere in the castle or goblin city, but you may not go into the labyrinth OR outside of it without my permission. Last, the first four days of every week you will spend in the library being tutored by Dublin," he said, gesturing to the dwarf who was now picking his teeth with his fork " On the fifth day you will be tutored by myself," he added.

"You mean I'm still gonna have to go to school? Do I have to?" Toby whined.

"Yes," Sarah and Jareth answered in unison.

"Well, I guess so, if it means we can stay," Toby said after a few moments of deliberation.

"Excellent, so then it's settled. After breakfast Dublin will take you to the library to begin. You will break for lunch and be done by dinner time," Jareth commanded. He rose from his seat, indicating that he was done with their conversation, and strode to the door.

"And what about me?" Sarah asked. Jareth paused and regarded her, a wicked smile upon his face.

"What about you?" he parroted. Sarah raised a brow and cocked her head to to the side. Her posture practically screamed 'give me a break, you know what I mean.'

"You do still enjoying reading, don't you?" the King jeered, before turning on his heel and leaving the room.

The library it was.

* * *

By dinnertime, Sarah was exhausted. She had followed Toby and his tutor to the library in hopes of finding a good book to read to occupy her time. She had thought that maybe she could even help with the tutoring, if it turned out Toby need a familiar teacher.

Though Dublin lacked any knowledge of table manners, he had not lacked in knowledge of academia. Once they'd been seated in the library, the dwarf probed Toby relentlessly for all the things he'd learned up to this point. He deemed the boy up to speed on mathematics and english, for his age, and had decided to give him a crash course in Underground geography, culture, and government. Sarah, who seated herself nearby, was often pulled from her leather bound copy of 'The Divine Comedy' towards the lesson being taught by the dwarf.

The Underground was divided into four Kingdoms: the North, hidden in the Carrig mountain was the Mons Montis – the kindgom of the dwarves. Dwarves. Sarah and her brother learned, were industrious miners which lived in a patriarchal society. Their government was a democratic monarchy – meaning that the kind and queen were voted into power, and once in power, ruled with authority until the death of the king. Males mined, ruled, and protected while females kept the home and raised the children. They were not religious – rather, they revered their ancestors and their elderly. They didn't trust easily as a rule, but were loyal once a friendship was forged. They were not warlike, but had strong defenses due to the mountains they lived in. They cared more for productivity than academia, and because of this were rather dull-witted.

At this point Sarah interjected. If dwarves were dull-witted as a species, then why was Toby being tutored by one? Dublin answered in a resentful huff that he was born out of place and cared nothing for his ignorant brethren, so he left to seek higher education in the world.

When the questions about the dwarves had been answered, he moved on to the next kingdom: the Skritek to the westernmost point of the Underground. The Skritek were trolls – larger than most goblins though not usually as large as a man. Theirs was a society and government of tribalism. They practiced a bloodthirsty religion which required annual virgin sacrifices to their god, Kira. They were mean, warlike, and plain unpleasant, in Dublin's opinion.

Next he described the Ittlekins, known as gnomes to humans. A vast desert separated their eastern kingdom from the rest, so little was known about them. What was known was that they were pacifistic cleptomaniacs. They mined, much like the dwarves, but preferred gems to ores. They were trustworthy in their advice, though not so much with one's possessions.

The southernmost point of the Underground lay the Goblin Kingdom, the youngest of the Kingdoms. Dublin felt Toby knew enough about the goblin kingdom to move on to the last kingdom in the heart of the Undergound – the Alfar Kingdom. It was populated by the Alver, though humans called them elves. They looked much like humans, though they possessed greater beauty, magic, and cunning. Theirs was a naturalistic society with a matriarchal government. Though Kings could rule, women had the greatest power because they were regarded as "life-givers". Above all else, elves revered life, and this was reflected in their fertility rituals, religion, and day-to-day habits. To end the day's education, Dublin noted that politically the elves were great adversaries, because they were adept at saying one thing but meaning another. "Never trust the word of an elf without a dictionary in hand." was his parting words of wisdom before he concluded the lesson.

Sarah sighed as she watched the door close behind Dublin. She regarded her baby brother with a questioning look. "So, what did you think of all that?" she asked.

"It was pretty cool," he answered, still gazing down at a picture in a book that the dwarf had told him to read. "I think Cavin is an elf – or half elf, at least," he stated after few moments of silence.

"It seems likely," Sarah replied, setting her book to the side.

"Does that mean the Goblin King is an elf, too? I mean, he looks human, but he has magic – so he can't be human, right?" Toby asked, finally tearing himself from the picture he was studying to look at his sister.

Sarah shrugged. If asked what Jareth was, she would have said he was the devil, leading a kingdom of demons – but that was hardly something she should be telling her eight year old brother.

"I'm going for a walk. Want to come with me?" she offered.

Toby shook his head and returned to his reading. For once he actually seemed interested in learning something, so Sarah didn't argue. She quietly left him to his study and set out in a walk in the halls. A half an hour later found her in the courtyard she'd been viewing last night. Even in the waning daylight, it's beauty was breathtaking. Joseph's coat rose bushes line her path, and she followed it to the fountain in the center. It was marble, she observed. Beautifully crafted with 3 rings, each of which displayed carvings of elves and humans in various poses. The water trickled down into a ground level stone basin which drained off to the four corners of the courtyard in small marble carved streams. Sarah lazily watched the progress of a fallen leaf down on of these streams until she was interrupted by a voice behind her.

"There is no sanctuary in this castle when you are present," the rich voice remarked.

"If I'd known you would be here, I wouldn't have come," she answered.

Jareth stopped at her side and joined her in watching the progress of the lone leaf making it's way to the corner of the courtyard. They stood in silence for some time before Sarah spoke up.

"Why are you keeping us here, Jareth?" she asked.

"For my amusement," came his instantaneous quip.

"Our lives are not a game," she growled at him.

"Oh?" he chuckled.

Sarah's lips thinned in annoyance and she turned to face the Goblin King.

"Do you really hate me this much?" she asked.

Jareth raised a brow, caught of guard by her question. He appeared to ponder her question for a moment before he gave his head a small shake and turned to look at her. Though he remained expressionless, his voice seemed – to Sarah's ear – to soften a little.

"I have never hated you," he told her.

* * *

A week had passed in the Goblin Kingdom and Sarah was finding herself quite bored with the daily grind. She had accompanied Toby to the library for his tutelage, but had grown tired with Dublin's lectures, which had eventually turned towards grammar and proper etiquette (the latter Sarah found laughable being taught by a dwarf that picked his teeth clean with his dinner fork). The only interesting day since the first one had been the day Jareth had taken over the teaching. He preferred a more hands on or visual approach rather than recitation or reading. By the end of the day Toby was enamored with the Goblin King, and Sarah was finding herself more frustrated. At this rate Toby would never want to leave. How would she convince him to return home with her when the Goblin King upheld his side of the bargain – if he upheld his side of the bargain?

That was another thing that plagued Sarah. She couldn't trust the Goblin King as far as she could throw him. They could very well be stuck here forever if Toby fell in love with this place. It's not like she could just leave him behind. She was convinced this was all just some twisted game of the Goblin King's that she would never learn the rules of. He practically lorded it over her every chance he got – which made their mealtimes together more than a little unpleasant.

At the very least, Sarah mused, she had made a friend in the castle. The third morning of their stay Sarah cut her breakfast short after another aggravated session of verbal sparring with the goblin king across the dining table. "Cut short", in this case, involved abruptly standing up and storming from the table and out of the castle without a word. Sarah paced the perimeter of the castle to work off the steam and found herself being joined by an unlikely companion on her second lap.

"Walking is a very old and efficient way of reducing stress and maintaining health, you know," the dark haired healer told her as he fell into step beside her.

"I think I'll be doing a lot of walking while I'm here. Like – every five minutes," Sarah replied.

"Then you will be a very healthy woman by the end of your stay,"

Sarah bit out a sardonic laugh. "If it ever ends – I'm pretty sure he has no intention of sending us back."

"The King is many things, not all of them good. However, I've known him fifty or more years and have never witnessed him break a promise or outright lie,"

"No, he just sets his promises up with conditions and twisted words so he can have an easy out," she snarled.

"That is his nature," the healer somberly explained.

"Well his nature makes him an asshole," she grumbled.

"That is _elven _nature,"

At Sarah's questioning glance, the healer elaborated.

"The Àlfar, what you would call elves, are not a forthcoming race. There are many facets of truth, and they exploit them all, but they do not, as a rule, lie. They may not always play fair, but they will always honor the conditions to which they've bound themselves. It's complicated to explain to someone who was not raised in the Àlfar kingdom. Even the other Underworlders find us queer natured,"

"So...Jareth is an elf..um, Àlfar?" Sarah queried.

"Àlfr in a singular reference, and no, not exactly. Like myself, he is a Skuld – a halfling. One with elven and human parentage. The popular term you humans use is mixed race, I think?"

Sarah nodded in affirmation. "So you're saying he can't help himself?"

"I am saying that it is in his nature to act as he does. I can't speak for some of his habits, such as provoking you. That is a personal fault all his own. However, what you perceive to be unfairness and manipulation and are simply traits that have been ingrained into him since childhood. Surely you have cultural traits that were bred into you and your fellow citizens that other humans may find odd or appalling?"

Sarah shrugged. She'd never met a human like that, but she watched the news. Plenty of people thought Americans were backwards or immoral. Even Americans thought Americans were backward and immoral.

"So then, all that stuff is in your nature, too?" she asked after a few moments of silence. His response was a sly smirk. She took that to mean 'yes'.

Their conversation material turned to lighter, more care-free matters. They discussed Toby and his lessons, Sarah's opinion of Dublin, and the books she'd been reading. Cavin recommended a few of his personal favorites and Sarah made a mental note to check them out the next time she was in the library. By the time they had ended their walk it was almost noon, and Cavin excused himself politely to return to his work. Sarah followed him into the castle and bid him good-bye once more as she made her way up to the library to check on Toby's progress.

Every day since then, Sarah would take a walk after breakfast and Cavin would join her. They'd talk about all matter of subjects, though the personal stuff was one-sided on Sarah's part. She could never get him to open up too much about himself, and if she probed for more, his answers became increasingly obscure and dodgy. She quickly learned to simply stop asking and wait for him to volunteer the information, which he did, in small amounts on very rare occasions.

Today, however, a kitchen mishap during breakfast had forced Cavin to busy himself healing the cooks and other servants who had gotten caught in the crossfire. A few singed chickens scattered out of Sarah's path as she passed the kitchen after he morning walk. Today was Toby's second week of schooling and she would join him in the library to read and help in whatever way she could.

"Ah, Sarah, there you are. How was the walk? Did that _alone _time help you clear your head?" came a silky voice behind her. Sarah stopped dead in her tracks just at the base of the stairs.

"I always enjoy my alone time, Jareth," she sighed tiredly, as she turned to face whatever fresh new hell he had for her now.

"I can tell," he replied sardonically, clearly aware that her walks were never taken alone.

"Did you need me for something?" she asked, cutting to the point.

"Not particularly, but I would like to show you something,"

Sarah rolled her eyes and turned her back to the king. "Pass," she sighed.

A hand on her arm stopped her from progressing up the stairs.

"I wasn't asking your permission," Jareth said before Sarah felt that familiar tug around her belly button. The world went black for a moment, and when it cleared, Sarah found herself in a dimly lit underground corridor. It looked vaguely familiar to the one she'd been chased down in years ago by the Cleaners.

"Jareth, what the hell!" she screamed in outrage.

"Perhaps you didn't take me seriously on the matter of fraternization with the help. So what is a Ruler to do with a headstrong girl who won't listen to reason? I believe you need to be reminded that the consequence is quite serious, no matter how little you care to believe it," he stated. He started forward and beckoned her to follow him with a wave of his hand. Sarah stayed put in obstinate defiance.

"Sarah, there is no dwarf to lead you out this time. If you ever hope to leave the dungeons, I suggest you follow me," he said, continuing on his path.

Sarah huffed in agitation but, after a moment of calculating her chances, followed him nonetheless. They walked in silence down the corridor, taking only one or two turns before they entered a large circular chamber with stone pillars. Carved into the wall between each stone pillar were horrendous looking faces. Sarah recognized these instantly.

"False alarms," she stated aloud to no one in particular.

"No, these alarms are quite real. The passage leads into the castle directly. These serve to confuse intruders as well as alert me to their presence," he explained as if it were obvious.

"Why aren't they going off?" she asked.

"There are no intruders, obviously,"

"Obviously," Sarah repeated, rolling her eyes at his condescending remark.

"That hall over there," Jareth said, nodding his head to indicate the direction, "follow it until you reach a door. Open it,"

"Why should I?" Sarah childishly spat, wary of whatever Jareth had planned. He arched a brown in response, as if the answer should be obvious.

"Right, because you won't get me out of here until I do. Fine, whatever," she huffed as she did what was instructed. The hall was musky and unlit. Sarah extended her arms to feel ahead of her until she felt solid wood beneath her palms. She felt along the damp wood until she felt a latch. She pushed against it with some effort and the door slowly opened. Her senses were immediately accosted by a stench so foul that Sarah instinctively covered her nose and fought to control her gap reflex. What the hell was Jareth trying to show her?

Sarah stepped into the small torchlit room and her question was immediately answered. A small crouched figure stood abruptly at the intrusion. Large eyes bulged in surprise, and a lopsided mouth fell open in a silent gasp.

"Hoggle?" Sarah whispered, dropping her hands shock, the stench almost forgotten.

"Sarah? Sarah? What're you doin' here? How'd you find me," the dwarf asked.

"Oh my god," Sarah squealed in happiness, stepping forward to embrace her friend. He immediately retreated from her approach, throwing his hands up defensively.

"Don't touch me. You don't want to get this stink on you," he told her.

Sarah nodded and stepped back in compliance. The smell was slowly creeping it's way back into her senses, reminding of her of why she was here in the first place.

"That bastard brought me here to use you as an example," she stated, a wave of indignant anger sweeping over her.

"You mean Jareth?" the dwarf asked. Sarah nodded.

The dwarf huffed and plopped down on a bed of ragged blankets.

"He threw me into the bog not long after you stopped calling us. I ain't ever seen him so angry before," he told her.

"Hoggle, I never stopped calling you. After a while, no matter how many times I called you just never came,"

"Well I ain't one to ignore a friend in need, Missy,"

"That's not what I mean. Sir Diddymus said the same thing, too. Even though I called, you guys couldn't hear me. He thinks someone was interfering with the magic that let us do that,"

Hoggle shook his head his denial. "I don't think so. That dumb fox don't know nothing. Things ain't been right around here for a while,"

Sarah shook her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know – I just know things haven't been right since before you came, and after you came the first time, it got worse. A lot worse. Much as I hate his slimy guts, that Jareth was pretty good about keeping on top of things in the kingdom when things went wrong – but too many too many things have been going wrong. It's like he can't even keep up. You've seen the weather haven't ya?"

Sarah nodded. "Crazy," she commented.

"Well, it's like that," he said. "Weather's been all wrong. Stuff happenin' outside it's season. The hedge maze in the labyrinth died overnight. One mornin' I went out to spray the fairies and they was all gone. Just disappeared, without a trace. Matter of fact, that was the day Jareth kicked me into the bog. Speakin' of the bog, that's goin' dry, too. Just something ain't right, Sarah. This whole kingdom is magic , and the kingdom is dying – so what's that say about the magic?"

Sarah contemplated her friend's words for a minute. "So you think the magic is dying in the Labyrinth?"

"Maybe, I dunno. All I know is somethin's wrong, and it's got me all itchy just thinkin' about it. But enough about me, how 'bout you? Why are you back here?"

Sarah sighed and launched into her tale from beginning to end. When she finished, Hoggle was sniffling loudly and shaking his head. "You don't deserve none of that. You're too sweet a girl," he bawled into a filthy hankercheif.

"Thanks, Hoggle, but I'm okay, really. I'm more concerned about you,"

"Don't worry 'bout me. I wasn't too happy at first about stinking like the bog but it ain't so bad. Now at least I get left to myself like I wanted in the first place. It turned out alright, I s'pose."

Sarah offered a sympathetic smile. She couldn't see how anyone could find a silver lining in the cloud of stench that surrounded them, but she wasn't about to tell Hoggle that.

Jareth's voice echoed down the hall, calling Sarah back. Hoggle's head snapped up and he dropped his handkerchief in surprise.

"Jareth came with you?" he asked.

"He brought me," she shrugged.

"Damned if I ever understand that man. You best be off. I've kept you long enough as it is. Gotta get back to counting my beads," he added.

Sarah allowed herself a chuckle at the dwarf's habits. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Sure, though if ya want to come by and see me again, you're always welcome, Missy," he told her, giving her a crooked smile.

Sarah smile back, wringing her hands to suppress the urge to hug her friend. He led her to the door and closed it behind her, giving her one last goodbye as the door latched shut. Sarah sighed and trekked back to the chamber where the goblin king stood waiting.

"What is that horrible smell?" the goblin king teased as she emerged from the hall.

_'Your attitude,' _Sarah thought, glaring daggers at the goblin king.

"Can we go now?" she asked.

If Jareth said anything in reply, Sarah didn't know, because at that moment the ground began to shake. Dust and small rocks fell from above, and Sarah didn't have time to scream in panic before she was thrust against a pillar and covered against the rain of debris. The gruesome mouths of the alarms flew open and ear piercing screams echoed off the walls of the chamber. Sarah screamed in panic and covered her ears, though it did little to block out the sound of the alarms.

She could feel movement from Jareth but didn't dare look up to see what was going on. The sound of the alarms died away, but they were left to ride out the remaining quake. When it was over, Jareth stepped back and examined Sarah momentarily before surveying the room. A few large chunks of rock had fallen, one uncomfortably close to where Sarah had been standing moments before. Sarah looked up and noted that the pillar she stood against was not just for decoration – it formed a weight bearing arch with a neighboring pillar.

'Quick thinking,' she thought, allowing herself a moment of positive thought for the goblin king.

"Now can we go?" she asked. Without reply the goblin king took hold of her, and Sarah felt a tug at her bellybutton.

"Are you alright," Jareth asked when they arrived in the empty throne room. Sarah nodded.

"You?" she asked, eyeing him for signs of injury. It hadn't occurred to her until now that he might have been hurt shielding her from the falling debris. Sarah wondered momentarily if she was that bad of a person that she would let her bias against another impede her worry for their safety.

"Of course," he answered, brushing dust from his shoulders.

"Thank you,"

"For what?" he asked, pausing in his self cleaning to address her show of gratitude.

"For...protecting me, I guess. Thank you. I'm glad you weren't hurt," she told him.

He smirked arrogantly. "Are you, then?"

"No, not really. You deserve to at least be a little banged up by something after throwing Hoggle in the bog for no good reason," she said, his attitude instantly activating her defensive mode.

He smiled in amusement.

"Disobedience is an excellent reason for punishment. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to make sure my Kingdom is still intact. Perhaps you should check on your brother to make sure he is not 'banged up'," he suggested, before he disappeared from sight.

Sarah rushed to the door and headed for the library. She threw open the doors and sighed in relief when she saw her baby brother picking up books that had fallen to the floor. He was okay.

"Sarah!" Toby cried when he saw his sister. "Did you feel that? It was an earthquake. A real earthquake! How cool is that? Are you okay?"

Sarah embraced her baby brother and kissed him on the cheek. He was okay. She way okay. It was all okay. She helped clean up the mess created during the quake, and as she was replacing a particularly heavy leather bound volume on the history of elves on the shelf, she came to realize something. She had lied earlier. She really was glad the goblin king was okay.

* * *

A/N: I'm a slow updater. Sorry. I'll try to update more frequently.

For those who feel like I ripped of Tolkien on the subject of elves – I used old Nordic mythology for my elven background. Nordic light elves appear human but fair featured and have pointy ears. Dark elves are ugly and dark featured (technically dwarves are dark elves but I doubt I'll go into that with this story). I figure Jareth has to be something beyond human since humans aren't particularly magical, so there you have it. He's an elf. Half elf, whatever. I have the whole background written out in my storynotes, I'll see if I can't work it into the fic.

As always, read and review. Criticism is welcome, as long as I can learn something from it.


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